Renesas Launches Physical AI Team to Expand Humanoid Chip Business

What happened

Japanese semiconductor company Renesas is accelerating its expansion into the physical AI market, having recently established a dedicated physical AI team within its user experience (UX) organization to provide semiconductors and solutions needed for humanoid robot development. Renesas director Yang Tae-young made the remarks at the "Semiconductors Powering Humanoids" conference held alongside the Semiconductor Exhibition (SEDEX) at COEX in Seoul on Oct. 16. Renesas established its UX organization in the second half of 2024; the global organization covers all markets including Japan, consists of three teams responsible for physical AI, marketing and technology strategy, and has 403 employees, including more than 108 in the physical AI team. The physical AI team provides comprehensive robotics development services, including engineering support and system architecture implementation, with offerings covering microcontrollers (MCUs), microprocessors (MPUs), motor control semiconductors and sensors. Renesas has established a laboratory in Beijing, China, to jointly develop solutions with local humanoid companies and develop its own technologies. Its development tools include MPUs equipped with two 64-bit cores, which can be used in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Renesas is also expanding its semiconductor portfolio for robotics, supplying both products for controlling robotic joint motors and industrial network communication devices; humanoids account for 8% of revenue from these products, with the share more than doubling annually, and demand is particularly strong in China. The company is also reducing semiconductor package sizes for humanoid applications, and some robotic joints use dual MCUs to maintain safe operation in the event of a malfunction.

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Source: The Elec · 10/17/2026 · View original source