On August 15, 2025, the landscape of industrial automation and robotics took a bold leap forward, as two major initiatives—one in North America and another in Japan—signaled a new era of collaboration, technological advancement, and accessibility for intelligent robotics. Mujin, a recognized pioneer in the field of intelligent robotics for logistics, manufacturing, and supply chain operations, launched its much-anticipated partner program, opening the doors to a select group of automation integrators. Simultaneously, Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) announced that it would entrust the AI Robot Association (AIRoA) with the establishment of a data platform aimed at supporting the development of robotic foundation models. These twin announcements underscore a global push to make robotics smarter, more adaptable, and accessible to a broader range of industries.
Mujin’s new partner program is designed to accelerate the adoption of its flagship MujinOS robotics platform across North America. The company’s approach is simple but ambitious: empower experienced system integrators with the same robust platform that has already powered thousands of robotic systems worldwide. According to Mujin, the initial cohort of partners features some of the industry’s most forward-thinking firms, including Applied Manufacturing Technologies, Convergix, CRG Automation, Mesh Automation, RG Group, C&B Material Handling, Conveyco, and Honeywell Intelligrated. Each was selected for their deep technical expertise and proven ability to deliver large-scale automation projects, according to Mujin’s press release.
What sets MujinOS apart is its use of real-time digital twin technology. This innovation allows for the continuous perception, planning, and control of robotic systems, helping to eliminate the traditional barriers that have long plagued automation projects. Gone are the days of painstaking custom programming, manual calibration, and rigid system design. Instead, MujinOS enables faster, more flexible deployments in environments characterized by high variability and complexity—think palletizing, depalletizing, bin picking, and even the coordination of fleets of mobile robots.
Ross Diankov, Mujin’s co-founder and CEO, put it succinctly: “Through Machine Intelligence, MujinOS enables robotic systems to have higher throughput with better ROI for end users and their businesses. By giving trusted partners access to MujinOS, we’re enabling them to bring transformative automation to more factories and warehouses, faster than ever before. This is how we unlock the next generation of industrial robotics.”
The company’s strategy hinges not just on technology, but on people. Each partner brings a wealth of industry knowledge and implementation expertise to the table. Mujin provides them with hands-on training at its dedicated training center, ensuring that integrator teams are quickly brought up to speed. And while MujinOS is designed to be intuitive, the company offers dedicated technical support whenever it’s needed—a crucial factor in ensuring smooth deployments and long-term project success.
Ed Mullen, Mujin’s Vice President of Sales – Product, emphasized the flexibility and scalability that the latest advancements in MujinOS bring to the table. “With the latest advancements to MujinOS, our partners have access to a powerful toolset—enabling everything from simple depalletizing to complex mixed-SKU palletizing. By unlocking configurability across applications, hardware, and layouts, we’re helping integrators deploy automation faster, with more flexibility and scalability than ever before. We’re proud to partner with the best RSIs and MHIs in the industry to shape the future of industrial automation.”
For industries long hampered by the complexities and costs of traditional automation, this marks a pivotal shift. Mujin’s new partners—ranging from robotics system integrators like Applied Manufacturing Technologies and Convergix to material handling experts such as C&B Material Handling and Honeywell Intelligrated—are now equipped to address high-mix production needs and unstructured logistics challenges. The result? A reduced time-to-value for customers and the ability to tackle use cases that were previously deemed too difficult or time-consuming to automate.
But Mujin’s announcement is only part of a broader movement unfolding across the globe. On the very same day, Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) revealed a significant step for the future of robotics research and development. NEDO announced that it will entrust the AI Robot Association (AIRoA) with the establishment of a data platform specifically designed to support the development of robotic foundation models.
Foundation models—large-scale AI systems trained on vast datasets—are increasingly seen as the backbone for the next generation of intelligent robots. By providing a centralized data platform, NEDO and AIRoA aim to accelerate research and enable the development of more capable, adaptable, and general-purpose robotic systems. According to the official announcement, this initiative is expected to foster greater collaboration among Japanese robotics companies, researchers, and technology developers, ensuring that Japan remains at the forefront of global robotics innovation.
While the details of the data platform’s architecture and rollout remain to be seen, the move is widely viewed as a strategic response to the rapidly evolving field of AI-driven robotics. As companies worldwide race to develop smarter, more autonomous robots, access to high-quality, diverse data is becoming a critical differentiator. NEDO’s decision to leverage AIRoA’s expertise underscores the importance of industry-wide collaboration and shared resources in overcoming technical challenges and scaling up the capabilities of robotic systems.
These parallel announcements—Mujin’s partner program in North America and NEDO’s data platform initiative in Japan—highlight a growing recognition that the future of robotics will be built not just on technological breakthroughs, but on ecosystems of collaboration, open platforms, and shared expertise. Both initiatives aim to lower the barriers to entry for advanced robotics, making it possible for more companies, regardless of size or sector, to benefit from automation’s promise.
As Mujin actively seeks new relationships with additional robotics system integrators, material handling experts, and high-tech distributors, the company’s commitment to both advancing technology and empowering its ecosystem is clear. Meanwhile, NEDO’s partnership with AIRoA is set to provide the infrastructure needed for the next wave of AI-powered robotics research in Japan.
For businesses, researchers, and workers alike, these developments signal a future where intelligent automation isn’t just for the few, but for the many. With robust support systems, cutting-edge technology, and a spirit of collaboration, the next generation of robotics is being built—one partnership, one platform, and one breakthrough at a time.