Robotics and AI: Bosch bets on a billion-dollar market

Why Bosch is pushing harder into robotics and AI

Bosch is increasingly focusing on a future market that is gaining strategic importance for the technology group: automation, humanoid robotics and artificial intelligence. At Bosch Connected World in Berlin, the company made it clear that robotics and AI are to play a larger role in the portfolio in the future.

The move comes at a time when the traditional automotive business is under pressure. Bosch is looking for new growth areas that combine technological strength, industrial experience and existing production data. «Bosch moves the future - on wheels and with arms,» said Bosch Chief Digital Officer Tanja Rückert at the industry gathering in Berlin.

CEO Stefan Hartung indicated that he intends to develop the humanoid robotics segment into a «business worth billions.» In doing so, Bosch is positioning robotics and AI not as a peripheral topic, but as a building block of the company's future development.

Bosch does not want to build the robot, but rather its system core

Bosch is pursuing a clear division of roles in humanoid robotics. The group does not want to appear as a manufacturer of humanoid robots itself. Instead, Bosch sees itself as a technology partner for central system functions.

According to the company, the focus is on the «brain and nervous system» of such robots. What is meant are solutions that enable perception, control, sensor technology, and processing. Microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS sensors for short, are particularly important here.

These sensors are intended to enable robots to have a finer sense of touch. This allows them, for example, to distinguish a delicate glass from a more robust object. For industrial applications, this capability is crucial because humanoid robots in the future must not only grasp, but also react in a differentiated manner.

What role MEMS sensors play for robotics and AI

MEMS sensors are among the core technologies on which Bosch is relying in robotics and AI. In this area, the group says it is already the world market leader. Sensor technology forms a technical basis for robots to perceive their environment more precisely and execute movements in a more controlled manner.

The economic potential is considerable. According to estimates, the market volume for MEMS sensors is expected to grow to more than 19.2 billion USD by 2030. For Bosch, this is linked to an industrially scalable business field with a market that is likely to benefit from automation and humanoid robotics.

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New unit is intended to accelerate industrialization

To consolidate its activities in robotics, Bosch has founded Robert Bosch Robotics GmbH. The new unit is intended to help advance the industrialization of corresponding solutions more quickly.

For the Asian market, Bosch is also bundling its activities in the Bosch Robotics Center China, or BROC for short. With this, the group is addressing a market that has high relevance for automation and industrial robotics.

In addition, Bosch is relying on partnerships with start-ups. This includes the German company Neura Robotics. Together, developments in the field of cognitive robots are to be advanced. As a basis for the training of artificial intelligence, Bosch is drawing on a large industrial data trove from more than 230 of its own plants worldwide.

Why the restructuring faces a difficult core business

The optimistic appearance in Berlin stands in contrast to the current situation in the core business. The balance sheet for the year 2025 shows that Bosch is under considerable economic pressure. For the first time since 2009, the group had to record an after-tax loss. This amounted to 363 million EUR. Revenue in 2025 rose only slightly to 91 billion EUR.

The causes are diverse. Cited are a weak global economy, new US tariffs, and significantly intensified competition from Chinese providers. Bosch admits that in many areas it is no longer sufficiently competitive.

Future projects such as e-mobility or hydrogen drives are also delivering returns that are too low so far. At the same time, the consumer goods business is suffering from market weakness, including washing machines from subsidiary BSH and power tools.

Bosch wrestles with direction and framework of values

Bosch's job cuts are becoming a test for the technology group. Supervisory board chairman Stefan Asenkerschbaumer refers to Robert Bosch and the long-term preservation of the company.

Job cuts weigh on the annual result

To restore competitiveness, management is planning extensive cuts. In the supplier business alone, around 22,000 jobs are to be eliminated in the coming years. Further cuts are planned at BSH and in the power tools division.

By the end of 2025, the German workforce had already shrunk by more than 5 % to 122,968 employees. The costs of the job cuts weighed significantly on the 2025 annual result. Provisions amounting to around 2.7 billion EUR additionally depressed the result.

Against this background, the expansion of robotics and AI is taking on a strategic dimension. Bosch is trying to transfer technological competencies from sensor technology, automation, software, and industrial manufacturing into new business fields.

How politics assesses Bosch's course

At Bosch Connected World, the group received political backing. Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger expressed confidence that Bosch would successfully manage the current transformation.

The CDU politician acknowledged the company's 140th anniversary and emphasized that Bosch does not just discuss the connected world theoretically, but actually builds it. The group is an example of how an industrial champion can reinvent itself again and again through technology.

Wildberger classified Bosch's transformation into an AI company as something already internalized. For the path out of the crisis, he also announced modernized state framework conditions. This includes reducing bureaucracy worth 16 billion EUR as well as expanding fiber-optic and AI infrastructure.

In the future, the state should act more strongly as a pioneer and provide reliable «tracks» in the form of open digital infrastructure. Companies like Bosch could build their own solutions on that basis. According to Wildberger, the courageous mindset that Bosch has chosen in the current upheaval is exactly the attitude that Germany needs in order to regain economic strength.

With material from dpa