Neura Robotics opens 'RoboGym' near Munich as Europe tries to close the gap with China

On a recent morning, a day after founder David Reger joined business leaders in Berlin for a discussion with Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany and Prime Minister Andy Burnham of Britain, he opened the facility, which Neura calls the RoboGym, to a journalist for the first time. Robots picked up car parts and placed them into containers, stacked boxes and carried out other tasks, mimicking the movements of human trainers who guided them remotely. One practised tightening its grip on a glass, learning how to respond when water is added. When one robot learns a new skill, the data is fed into a cloud-based platform, or shared brain, so that all of them get smarter.

The centre, developed with the Technical University of Munich, is part of a wider plan. By the end of the year, Neura aims to have five gyms operating globally, including one already opened in Hangzhou, China, with ten more expected to follow. Neura is among the companies at the forefront of European efforts to seize the potential economic gains as AI makes the leap from the digital world into the physical one. These technologies could help Europe transform its ailing manufacturing sector and take on Chinese competition.

China's head start is considerable. It has rolled out 2.3 million industrial robots, almost half the global fleet, and is moving into the next frontier of machines that are expected to see, hear, feel and learn. More than 90 humanoid data collection centres are running across China, according to the consulting firm Interact Analysis, with at least 50 more under development. Europe has fewer than 10. Unlike generative AI models trained on internet data, physical AI depends on the costly collection of real-world data. Reger likened it to learning how to swim: you cannot simply watch videos, you have to get in the water. China is building most of the pools.

"We are not efficient any more," Reger said. "But I do believe that this can be solved." He said he aims to become "Europe's largest taxpayer", and cast the effort as a contest. "This is a competition," he said. "If you see other countries get more efficient through robotics and we don't, it's going to be very difficult to come out of this situation." He also met French President Emmanuel Macron in September.

Arnaud Robert, president of the Swiss company Hexagon Robotics, said it is working on a pilot with BMW at a plant in Leipzig, where robots are expected to move into production by the first quarter of next year. Agile Robots, in Munich, is working with partners including Google DeepMind, and another company, Humanoid, aims to integrate robots into the operations of car supplier Schaeffler by the end of the year. Neura is teaming up with Bosch and others to equip more than 1000 workers with sensor suits that record their movements during regular shifts. Robert said: “The skill is undeniable, but a lot of it, especially in the humanoid sector, is around what we'd call entertainment robots versus industrial robots.”

Zornitsa Todorova, a researcher at Barclays, said the number of humanoids deployed worldwide could rise from 15,000 last year to 1 million in 2030 if costs fall and the technology does not encounter regulatory headwinds. "The next 10 years will be the decade of the robot," she said, adding that at present it looks like that decade might belong to China. Europe's focus on safety and its expertise in hardware such as actuators, which enable robots to move, give it an edge, she said.

Neura said dozens of automotive, logistics, pharmaceutical and other companies have signed up to carry out their own training in the gym, though it declined to identify them. Neura’s chief said more than 2600 have applied for space at one of the sites. The company said part of the $US1.4 billion was tied to milestones it was on track to achieve.