Industrial Next partners with BMW to test AI-powered factory robots
BMW Group Technology Office will evaluate Industrial Next's dexterous-manipulation systems for manufacturing. Industrial Next says its stations are in production, but its smartphone customer and deployment scale remain undisclosed.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Primary source: TechCrunch
Why it matters
BMW's evaluation gives Industrial Next a named automotive counterpart for testing dexterous factory robotics. The startup has described smartphone-production use and reports strong line performance, but it has not disclosed customer identities or deployment counts, and the BMW announcement does not establish a production rollout.
Industrial Next, the San Francisco robotics startup co-founded by Lukas Pankau and Allen Pan, said on October 13th, 2026, that it is partnering with BMW Group Technology Office to evaluate Industrial Next's AI-powered dexterous manipulation for manufacturing, TechCrunch reported. The announcement describes an evaluation partnership. It does not identify a BMW production line, a timetable, or a commercial deployment.…