Why FANUC Has Become the Strongest Candidate for Physical AI Right Now

Becoming the 'easiest industrial robot to internalize' through support for ROS2, GitHub, and Isaac Sim

In the last year or two, the opportunity to hear the term 'Physical AI' has increased dramatically.

From 'thinking AI' like ChatGPT, to...

* Moving
* Grasping
* Assembling
* Judging

Such 'AI that moves in the real world'.

In other words,

The era of 'Physical AI'

is about to begin.

And the most important thing in this world is

the robot arm.

—

However, when you actually try to internalize Physical AI, you always run into a problem.

'Which robot manufacturer should I choose?'

The two companies with an overwhelming presence in Japan are

* FANUC

* Yaskawa Electric
The two companies.

In the past,

'Yaskawa for research purposes'

was a very common opinion.

In fact, Yaskawa's MotoROS series was very famous in the ROS community.

But as of 2026,

the power balance has changed significantly.

—

FANUC is changing drastically right now

Surprisingly, many people don't know this.

The old FANUC had a strong image of being

* Proprietary environment

* Closed
* SIer-centric
* Factory-oriented
But that is different now.

FANUC is clearly moving with an eye on

'The Physical AI era'.

—

Official ROS2 Driver released on GitHub

This is a big deal.

And it's not just a simple release.

* Official support

* ROS2 native support

* ros2_control support

* Python integration
* GitHub operations
* NVIDIA Isaac Sim support
They are even advancing to.
In other words,
'FANUC is becoming easier for AI engineers to use'.

This is quite shocking.

—

Differences from the old FANUC

Previously,

'Touching FANUC = The world of factories'.

In other words,

* PLC

* Specialized knowledge

* SIer culture

* On-site adjustments

were strong.

But now,
* ROS2
* Python
* Linux

* Docker

* GPU

* Isaac Sim
It is entering the world of.
This is a very big change.
—
What is important in Physical AI is not 'AI accuracy'
This is very important.

Many people misunderstand this.

What is really difficult in Physical AI is not

'Creating an AI model'.

What is really difficult is

'Making it move stably in the real world'.

—

For example,

It works in an AI demo.

But it stops on the factory floor.

This happens very often.

The causes are

* Communication latency

* Noise

* Control cycles

* Real-time performance

* Safety control

* Reproducibility

* Maintainability

etc.
In other words,
'Factory quality'
is required.
This is where FANUC is strong.
—
Actually, this is FANUC's 'true strength'

FANUC is not just a robot manufacturer.

* CNC

* Servo

* Robot

* Control

* FA

They have it all.

In other words,

'Factory-wide optimization'
is possible.
This is incredibly strong.
—
AI alone cannot run a factory

For example,

Even if the AI is smart,

* Tact time

* Control latency

* Error recovery

* Maintenance

* Upkeep

* Mass production stability

If these are no good, it cannot be used in a factory.

In other words,
'AI + Industrial Quality'
is required.
FANUC is very conscious of that.
—
1ms control is very important

In the recent FANUC ROS2 Driver,

1ms control

is strongly pushed.

This is actually quite important.

In Physical AI,

* imitation learning

* reinforcement learning

* force control

* visual servoing

etc.,

low-latency control becomes important.

In other words,

'Fusion of AI and real-time control'
is required.
FANUC is seriously aiming for that.
—

Compatibility with NVIDIA Isaac Sim is also strong

What is super important in current Physical AI development is

* Digital twin

* Simulation learning

* Sim2Real

is.

At the center of that is

NVIDIA Isaac Sim

And FANUC is strengthening its support for this.

In other words,
'Learning -> Simulation -> Real machine'
is very conscious of this.

This is super important in the Physical AI era.

—

So is Yaskawa weak?

Not at all.

Rather, Yaskawa is still strong.

In particular,

'ROS native feel'

is quite strong.

—

Yaskawa is close to researchers

MotoROS2 series has

* ROS ecosystem

* micro-ROS

* Open community

a close sense of distance with.

The GitHub community is also active.

In other words,

'Ease of research and development'

is still very strong.
—
However, FANUC has also changed a lot now

This is the point.

In the past,

'Yaskawa for research, FANUC for mass production'

was an easy-to-understand composition.

But now it's different.

FANUC itself is

'ROS2 x Physical AI'

is seriously steering towards.

—

My honest impression right now

As of 2026,

if I were to

'Internalize Physical AI',

I would seriously consider FANUC.

The reason is simple.

'Ease of AI development' and

'Factory quality'

because they are starting to have both.

This is quite strong.

—

Companies that are truly strong in the Physical AI era

What will be strong from now on is

not just companies that can make AI.

* Motor

* Control

* Servo

* Real-time control

* Safety control

* Simulation

* GPU

Companies that can integrate all of these.

In other words,
'Companies that can control the real world'.
And now,
FANUC is heading there.
—
Finally
Until a few years ago,

FANUC had a strong impression of being a 'closed factory world'.

But now it's different.

* GitHub

* ROS2

* Python

* Isaac Sim

* Open collaboration

is moving seriously towards.

In other words,

'Physical AI Platform company'

is trying to evolve into.

If now,
'I want to seriously internalize Physical AI',
if so.
FANUC has become a very interesting option.