Reborn in 2010, the AI ​​in my mind is too powerful.

The third of the four major families is Yaskawa Electric Corporation of Japan.

It was founded in 1915 and will be a century-old company in a few years. Its headquarters are located in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.

The founder, Keiichiro Yasukawa, started out in the coal mining industry before switching to motor manufacturing. He gradually developed the company into a leading enterprise in the field of servo motors and motion controllers before finally entering the robotics industry.

Unlike FANUC, Yaskawa's robotics business didn't stem from CNC systems, but rather grew from motors and motion control. If FANUC is strong in the brain, then Yaskawa is strong in the muscles.

In 2011, Yaskawa's revenue was approximately US$35 billion, and its market capitalization was about US$32 billion. It couldn't compare to the top two companies in the four major corporations; it was a more specialized company, but its technological foundation was very solid.

Because they are more specialized, their attitudes toward Chen Yiran are quite different.

They didn't struggle with whether to compete with Chen Yiran, nor did they agonize over whether to try and get authorization like Director Ming did.

People at Yaskawa are more pragmatic, or rather, more realistic. Their first reaction after looking at the shareholder list is, "Can we be added to the list?"

After a meeting and discussion among several senior executives, they felt that it might be true.

Chen Yiran acquired two battery companies: A123, which produces lithium iron phosphate batteries, and EVE Energy, a rather versatile battery company. Yaskawa, on the other hand, has deep expertise in industrial motor drives and energy management, and wind power generation motor systems are also one of their strengths. Batteries plus motors—this line of work is feasible.

Furthermore, Yaskawa's servo motors and motion controllers are widely recognized as the best among the four major manufacturers. Fanuc's servo motors are only for its own use and not sold externally. Yaskawa's servo motors, however, are openly supplied, and robot manufacturers worldwide use their products. This means that Yaskawa plays a more important role in the robotics industry chain than it appears on the surface.

If Chen Yiran wants to mass-produce robots, he cannot bypass the servo motor hurdle.

Judging from Chen Yiran's previous actions, he clearly doesn't like me sourcing from external suppliers and prefers to control the entire supply chain. Building a servo motor factory from scratch is too unrealistic; acquiring Yaskawa is obviously a more reasonable option.

In addition, Chen Yiran has already acquired a Japanese company, so although Takashi Hasegawa of HarmonyNico has gone from being the company owner to a minor shareholder, his net worth has actually increased.

This shows that Chen Yiran is not opposed to cooperating with Japanese companies, and there are even precedents for it. As long as you're willing to humble yourself, Yaskawa still has value.

After internal discussions, Yaskawa became increasingly excited.

Aurora has AI, chips, batteries, reducers, and collaborative robot bodies. Yaskawa has servo motors, motion controllers, and industrial motor drives—they seem like a perfect match.

The problem now is how to sell myself for a good price.

Going directly to their door would be too impolite. After thinking for a long time, they contacted Takashi Hasegawa, who had already joined the Aurora Group.

Harmonic Drive is an upstream supplier to Yaskawa, and the two companies have been doing business together for decades. After signing the contract with Aurora, Takashi Hasegawa will return to Japan to reorganize the company according to the new strategy.

Yasukawa planned to send someone to contact him, hoping he could help sound out Chen Yiran's opinion. They believed Hasegawa Takashi wouldn't refuse, since having an acquired Japanese company meant he had an ally in Aurora.

Now, no matter how you look at Aurora Group, it's all dominated by Chinese, Americans, and Danes.

Yaskawa is quite concerned about its image, while KUKA, the fourth largest company in the industry from Germany, seems to disregard it.

KUKA was founded in 1898 and is a true century-old company, headquartered in Augsburg, Germany.

The two founders, Keller and Knappich, initially manufactured acetylene welding equipment, and later gradually transformed their business, moving from welding equipment to industrial robots. In 1973, KUKA created the world's first industrial six-axis robot, Famulus.

Among the four major manufacturers, KUKA has the strongest mechanical design capabilities. The German automotive industry is their largest customer base, with KUKA-manufactured robotic arms found throughout the production lines of Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.

In 2011, KUKA's revenue was approximately US$19 billion, and its market capitalization was between US$18 billion and US$26 billion. It ranked last among the four major tech companies, but its technological foundation was solid.

In fact, KUKA has been discussing the issue of transformation for a long time. KUKA has always been quite anxious about the future. After all, unlike the other four companies, they have fewer business lines and lower risk resistance.

After Aurora Group emerged, Chen Yiran's sudden arrival terrified them even more.

KUKA engineers understood long ago that future robots would be connected, cloud-based, and intelligent.

It's not the kind of electric arm that's programmed and repeats itself endlessly, but an intelligent terminal with autonomous decision-making capabilities, capable of remote collaboration, and able to update its algorithms via the cloud.

Chen Yiran has already acquired Universal Robots and possesses the manufacturing technology for collaborative robotic arms. Coupled with Chen Yiran's superb software technology skills, no one can say for sure how much impact he will have on the market.

Moreover, these products seem to directly overlap with KUKA's product line, and KUKA is very afraid that it will be completely outmatched within a few years.

You have to understand that the three major EDA companies were once full of vigor, but then they were brutally beaten, and within two years, some died and others fled.

Now it's the robotics industry's turn. They're afraid that after Chen Yiran makes a big foray into the robotics industry, he'll start a war with the top dog FANUC or the second-largest dog Asibro and Bofarie, and then conveniently take care of them, who are ranked fourth.

They don't have the moat of FANUC's CNC systems, nor the diversified business lines of Asibro and Beverly Hills as a protective net.

The senior management held a day-long meeting but couldn't reach a consensus. In reality, they all leaned towards selling themselves out; the main issue now was the method of doing so.

The price difference between immediately rushing over to sell yourself and slowly developing a trade relationship with Chen Yiran and finally selling yourself out gracefully is completely different.

Finally, they brought in some frontline technical experts, and on their advice, they decided to completely abandon their pride.

Ultimately, they contacted JPMorgan Chase directly, hoping that Aurora Group could come and investigate whether KUKA could become a part of the robotics industry chain within Aurora's cooperation framework.

Of course, it would be best if Chen Yiran were interested in Kuka and could directly recruit them.

Datong, upon receiving the news, did not dare to delay and immediately informed Chen Yiran of the news. At the same time, it also explained that within just three days, several families had come to actively seek to sell themselves.