Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed what it calls the "industry's first" machining system in which humanoid robots and CNC machine tools collaborate through physical AI. The humanoid takes over tasks normally done by machine-tool operators: setup, cleaning, removing and transporting finished products, inspection, and troubleshooting.
The system has three parts. An AI machining task planner accepts an operator's instructions in natural language, generates the machining tasks, and assigns work between the CNC machine and the robot. The CNC machine tool carries its own physical AI and exchanges operational information with the humanoid in natural language. The third part is a general-purpose humanoid robot. Mitsubishi Electric built the planner and the machine-side AI on Maisart, its proprietary AI technology. According to the company, the operator needs to supply only basic work instructions for unmanned machining and management.
For automation engineers, the pitch centers on integration effort. Mitsubishi Electric says conventional industrial robots need substantial capital investment to modify production lines, and that connecting a humanoid to a CNC machine has required dedicated communication functions and control sequences for each robot. The new system is meant to remove that per-robot work.
A day later, on October 22, the company announced an OT security solution built on Nozomi Arc from Nozomi Networks, Inc., which became a wholly owned Mitsubishi Electric subsidiary in January 2026. The software embeds directly in industrial equipment, including Mitsubishi Electric controllers, and provides USB monitoring, malware detection, quarantine and removal, and software management. It also connects to Nozomi's OT/IoT asset visibility and threat detection products, giving centralized views of individual devices and the wider OT environment. Mitsubishi Electric cites regulation such as the European Cyber Resilience Act as a driver of demand. Certain of that law's requirements apply from September 2026, with full application scheduled for December 2027.
The security solution will launch commercially as an extension of Nozomi Arc during the fiscal year ending in March 2028. Both developments are tied to the 33rd Japan International Machine Tool Fair, held at Tokyo Big Sight from October 26 to 31, where the humanoid machining system is a demonstration and the first product carrying the security software is a reference exhibit. Satoshi Takeda, Senior Vice President, CDO, and Group President, Digital Innovation at Mitsubishi Electric, said the need to embed security capabilities directly into equipment "is becoming increasingly critical." He added that the company plans to integrate the solution with its Serendie digital platform.
