SoftBank Robotics

A drone maker backed by SoftBank says its goal is for every farmer to 'have their own robot', outlining ambitions to put agricultural robotics in the hands of individual growers. The company is positioning autonomous drones as tools for routine farm work such as monitoring and treating crops. The comments come as investment and interest in farm automation accelerate worldwide.

XAG, a Chinese agricultural robotics company backed by SoftBank, is pushing to reshape farming through automation, developing robots and drones for tasks like seeding, spraying and crop monitoring. The move highlights growing investor interest in agricultural technology as farms worldwide face labour shortages and pressure to raise efficiency. Observers see it as part of a broader shift toward machine-driven agriculture.

SoftBank is pursuing an acquisition of the largest security guard company in the United States, with plans to deploy robots across its operations. The deal would mark another major bet by the Japanese tech investor on automation, potentially replacing or supplementing human guards with robotic systems at commercial sites nationwide.

SoftBank is putting $18 billion into the development of robot security guards, a major wager on autonomous machines taking over surveillance and patrol work. The investment signals the Japanese tech conglomerate's continued push into robotics and artificial intelligence, and has drawn attention from analysts weighing whether automated security can become a large commercial market.