The Big Deal: Softbank dances with robots

Intel Capital’s division of the world into countries where it looks for entrepreneurs able to be global leaders and those which can benefit from local developments is pretty smart. But, to borrow from Karl Popper, there is a third world of the products of the human mind – the objective contents of thoughts.

In this world, and future ones of potential products derived from the operation of sentiment machines able to learn, could be sparked the next wave of productivity and economic growth.

The majority sale of Aldebaran Robotics, a France-based humanoid robotics company named after a type-K5III star used by science fiction writers as a potential Earth-like world, to Japan-based conglomerate Softbank, therefore, is this week’s Big Deal.

Its part venture philanthropy, too, as Masayoshi Son, Softbank’s chief executive, is interested in addressing a number of societal problems, for example backing the development of green energy in Japan and securing care for an ageing population is in line with this, too, accoridng to news provider Financial Times.

But its mainly economics – from a legendary early adopter of the power of the internet to transform companies and lives.

Bruno Maisonnier, the founder and chief executive of Paris-based Aldebaran, has used an annual study conducted by the Economic Chamber of the United Nations that said by 2020 as many units of its type of robot will sell as television screens. Maisonnier has said: "The conclusion of this investigation is clear: the industry of personal robots will be in the 21st century what the automobile was in the 20th in terms of economic growth and social change."

Softbank’s investment has come with Aldebaran opening up a research centre in Japan, to complement ones in France, the US and China. This strategy is a crucial part behind the more strategic deals in a bid to create regional centres of excellence in important industries. (Its one of the interesting points whether western countries’ lack of so-called development banks could hamper their future growth given the importance of ones in emerging markets to encourage greenfield technologies.)

The deal at "well north" of $100m sees Softbank take 80% of Aldebaran from its French backers, while Intel Capital, the corporate venturing unit of US-listed chip maker Intel, declined to comment but is understood to be left as an investor, having joined the portfolio company’s $13m C round last year. (For more on Softbank’s international venturing strategy see the published Q&A with SBI’s Yoshitaka Kitao.)

Whether Aldebaran’s robots or those from other research centres or companies, such as Japan-based car maker Honda, take off is unclear but whoever becomes the General Motors or Ford of the early robotic world will steer the next generation.