Toyota plans to deploy about 150,000 robots across Toyota and Toyota Group companies and another 250,000 at its suppliers. The company laid out the physical AI and robotics plan at an event this week at its North American R&D headquarters in Saline, Michigan. Toyota and its suppliers expect to invest approximately ¥1 trillion (about $6.3 billion) annually from 2028 onward to renew aging production equipment.
Toyota frames the work as an extension of the Toyota Production System and the roughly 18,000 Takumi, its highly skilled workers, worldwide. The process starts with team members simplifying tasks through TPS. Toyota then looks for places where automation and robotics can assist them and improve ergonomics. Toyota says this gives physical AI a place to learn from the Takumi and improve through real-world use.
The company described three levels of factory automation. FA 1.0 covers conventional robots for predefined repetitive tasks, meant to reduce physical strain. FA 2.0 adds automation and synchronized end-to-end production and logistics. FA 3.0 is an environment where people and robots work side by side. An integrated Factory Control Platform will connect equipment, logistics and the supply chain.
For manufacturing and automation engineers, the scale is the point. Toyota says its manufacturing base gives it a substantial opportunity to develop and validate robotics in demanding production environments, which makes the program a likely proving ground for factory-floor physical AI.
Hiroki Nakajima, chief technology officer of Toyota Motor Corporation, said Toyota's strengths in vehicles and manufacturing will come together "with advances in AI, software and robotics."
The same event covered Arene, Toyota's vehicle software platform. Toyota plans to expand it from the Toyota RAV4 and Lexus ES to approximately 50 models and 10 million vehicles worldwide by 2030. The company also sees possible uses for Arene in robotics, factories, infrastructure and homes.
Toyota says it aspires to expand its robotics business beyond its own plants to other manufacturers and, over time, to other industries.
