Tokyo, Japan - 15 December 2025 - SoftBank Corp. has introduced a new class of data centre infrastructure designed to enable fully robotic operations, marking a significant step toward automation in high-density computing environments. The company’s innovation centres on “robot-friendly" server racks that eliminate traditional obstacles such as dense cabling, enabling autonomous robots to install, remove, and service hardware efficiently.
The design integrates bus bar power delivery at the rear, blind-mate liquid cooling interfaces, and optical connectors for communications, allowing robots to handle physical tasks that were previously difficult or time-consuming. By minimising human intervention in repetitive operations, the system improves safety, operational efficiency, and uptime, particularly in hyperscale and AI-focused data centres.
A SoftBank project leader explained that the racks allow robots to simply push servers into place without navigating complex cabling, reducing errors and operational delays. This initiative complements the company’s broader strategy of integrating Automated Guided Vehicles and mobile robotic units to handle installation, maintenance, and inspection tasks autonomously. Industry analysts note that this represents a rare example of physical automation in data centres, a sector where robotics adoption has been constrained by infrastructure complexity
SoftBank’s robot-friendly approach also addresses sustainability and scalability concerns. By reducing the need for human intervention, operators can cut labour costs and optimise energy use, while scaling operations to meet surging demand for AI, cloud, and high-performance computing workloads. The design further supports flexible reconfiguration, allowing data centre operators to adapt rack layouts as workloads evolve.
The initiative has already undergone initial trials in SoftBank’s domestic data centres, with plans to extend the technology to international facilities over the next year. Executives say that fully autonomous robotic maintenance could become standard in high-density environments within the next five years, positioning SoftBank at the forefront of data centre automation.
By rethinking server rack design for robotics compatibility, SoftBank demonstrates that automation in data centres extends beyond software orchestration, encompassing the physical layer to improve efficiency, safety, and operational resilience.
