Panasonic is best known for batteries, appliances and electronics. Now it says it wants to build robots shaped like people.
Akira Sakakibara, Panasonic Holdings’ group chief AI officer, told Nikkei that the group will develop humanoid robots and aims to start making them by 2029 [1][2]. The first jobs in mind are on factory production lines and in warehouses.
That’s the headline. The detail behind it is thin, and that’s worth saying up front.
What did Panasonic say?
According to Nikkei [1][2]:
- Panasonic will develop humanoid robots.
- It aims to begin manufacturing them by 2029.
- They’re meant first for factory lines and warehouses.
- Panasonic has started research on AI models and other technology to run them.
Asked about results so far, Sakakibara said, roughly translated from Japanese, that there is “nothing we can disclose yet” [2].
Sakakibara first disclosed the plan on 30 September, according to Nikkei’s Japanese-language story [2]. Nikkei Asia’s English report followed on 5 October [1].
Where do batteries come in?
Nikkei’s headlines tie the plan to Panasonic’s battery business. The English headline says Panasonic will make the robots “leveraging its battery business,” and the Japanese headline says it will draw on its expertise in battery safety [1][2].
That makes sense in outline. A robot that walks around a factory needs a battery that’s powerful, compact and safe to work beside people. But the parts of the stories we could read don’t say how Panasonic plans to use its battery work, so we can’t go further than the headlines.
What we don’t know
Both Nikkei stories are behind a paywall, and only their opening paragraphs loaded for us. So we don’t know:
- How much Panasonic plans to invest.
- How many robots it wants to build.
- Whether it has a prototype.
- Whether it’s working with partners.
- Whether the robots are for Panasonic’s own factories or for sale to other companies.
We didn’t find a Panasonic press release or company statement about the plan. Some other websites carry extra quotes and battery details said to come from the interview. We couldn’t match them to the Nikkei text, so we haven’t used them.
The Bottom Line
A large, established manufacturer has said it wants to start making humanoid robots by 2029, starting with factories and warehouses. That’s a clear goal with a date attached. Everything else, including the money, the numbers, the design and what batteries really have to do with it, is still undisclosed. By Panasonic’s own account, the work is at the research stage, with nothing to show yet.
Sources
- Yuki Misumi, Nikkei Asia, 5 October 2026 (paywalled; opening only read). https://asia.nikkei.com/business/technology/panasonic-to-make-humanoid-robots-leveraging-its-battery-business
- Nikkei (Japanese), 30 September 2026 (paywalled; free portion read). https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUF308HH0Q6A930C2000000/
