Enterprise
FANUC and Google Deploy AI Welding Agent That Programs Industrial Robots Directly from Engineering Drawings
Gemini Enterprise reads component drawings through the CRX teach pendant's built-in camera and auto-generates welding parameters and robot motion programs, with commercial shipments scheduled for December 2026.
Mainstay Communications Team · · 3 min read
In brief
FANUC announced the AI Welding Agent on September 11, 2026, a product powered by Google's Gemini Enterprise that reads engineering drawings and automatically generates arc welding parameters and robot motion programs for FANUC CRX collaborative robots, cutting out the manual robot-teaching step. The system targets a U.S. skilled-welder workforce where 21% of professionals are over 55 and fewer than 10% are under 25, according to American Welding Society data. Shipments begin at the end of December 2026, available through existing FANUC subscription agreements with no separate Google Cloud contract required.
The System
FANUC, the world's largest industrial robot manufacturer with more than 1.1 million robots installed globally, announced the AI Welding Agent on September 11, 2026. The product runs on the company's CRX collaborative robot line and is powered by Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise, an enterprise-grade generative AI.
The workflow is direct. An operator holds an engineering drawing up to the built-in camera on the CRX tablet teach pendant. Gemini reads it, generates welding parameters including current and voltage, and produces a robot motion program. The robot can weld from that program immediately, with no separate hardware and no prior robot teaching required.
Operators can run the AI-generated program as produced or adjust the parameters before the first arc. The system works with any welding power supply connected to a FANUC robot, not only FANUC-branded equipment.
The Labor Problem It Targets
The American Welding Society projects the U.S. needs 82,500 new welders per year through 2029 to replace retirees and meet demand. The workforce is skewing older: 21% of working welders are over 55, and fewer than 10% are under 25.
Shops doing short-run and custom fabrication feel the shortage most acutely. Programming a robot for a new part has historically required a skilled technician to guide the machine through each motion by hand. The AI Welding Agent replaces that step with a camera and a drawing.
The Google Collaboration
FANUC's work with Google dates to a formal announcement in May 2026 that combined Gemini Enterprise with FANUC's robotics platform and Intrinsic's Flowstate software environment. Intrinsic is Alphabet's industrial robotics software unit.
Praveen Rao, Global Head of Manufacturing Industry at Google Cloud, said that "by combining FANUC robotics with Gemini Enterprise, we are linking real-time camera and sensor feeds with advanced AI reasoning." FANUC also participates in Google DeepMind's Gemini Robotics Trusted Tester Program, a research collaboration for foundational robotics AI.
The AI Welding Agent is FANUC's first commercial application of the Gemini Enterprise collaboration targeting the welding trade specifically. FANUC had shipped more than 1,000 robots for broader Physical AI applications since a December 2025 demonstration at the International Robot Exhibition, before the welding agent was announced.
Security and Subscription
Gemini Enterprise's security model prevents engineering drawings processed by the AI Welding Agent from being used to train other customers' AI models. FANUC highlighted that provision directly in its announcement, addressing the IP concern that makes industrial engineers cautious about cloud-connected tooling.
Pricing wasn't disclosed. Customers subscribe through existing FANUC contractual arrangements and don't need a separate Google Cloud agreement to access the product.
What to Watch
FANUC demonstrated the system at the International Welding Show in Tokyo from September 16, 2026. The company's CRX-3iA, an 11-kilogram portable collaborative welding robot released earlier this year, is among the compatible platforms.
Commercial shipments are set for the end of December 2026. FANUC reported FY2025 sales of 857 billion yen (roughly $5.7 billion), and the company announced a $90 million investment in March 2026 to build a new 840,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Pontiac, Michigan, targeted for completion in late 2027, part of nearly $300 million in U.S. facility investment since 2019.
Sources
- FANUC Accelerates Physical AI in Arc Welding with the New "AI Welding Agent", FANUC Corporation
- FANUC Accelerates the Physical AI Through Collaboration with Google, FANUC Corporation
- Japan's Fanuc, Google team up on AI-automated welding robots, Nikkei Asia
- Fanuc partners with Google to bring Gemini AI and Intrinsic platform to 1.1 million industrial robots, The Next Web
- FANUC America Brings Robotics, Automation, Physical AI and CNC Innovation to IMTS 2026, FANUC America
- American Welding Society Workforce Data
- Why Is the Welding Shortage Getting Worse in 2026, Western Welding Academy
Companies mentioned
Mainstay Digital · Spatial and 3D visualization for industrial companies