Factory robots are often built around a single product and a narrow set of repeatable tasks. Industrial Next wants to make that equipment easier to adapt, with AI-powered robotic stations that the company says can be retooled in minutes rather than weeks.
Flexible automation for factory floors
San Francisco-based Industrial Next builds self-contained robotic stations powered by proprietary foundation models. The models connect vision, task context and motion, with the aim of handling complex and delicate work that has traditionally required people.
The company says its stations can be reconfigured, combined and moved across product lines. Instead of relying on traditional programming, new tasks are taught through simulation and demonstration. The pitch is that manufacturers could change what a production line makes without the lengthy reprogramming, physical retooling or equipment replacement that can take weeks or months.
Industrial Next announced a partnership with BMW Group Technology Office to evaluate its AI-powered dexterous manipulation for manufacturing. The announcement came as the startup presented on the Startup Battlefield stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
Why factory automation can be hard to change
Traditional industrial robots are typically programmed for highly specific, repeatable tasks. Pankau says that means even a small change in a product or process can cause a robot to fail or lead to costly downtime. Manufacturers may respond by simplifying products so they are easier to produce consistently.
The founders saw a gap between advances in vehicle and self-driving technology and the older equipment used to make products. Lukas Pankau and Allen Pan had both worked at Tesla, where they encountered the difficulty of programming factory robots despite the company’s sophisticated work on cars and machine learning.
Industrial Next was founded in 2021. Pankau had served as a lead electrical architect at Tesla before moving to Waymo. Pan led Tesla’s autonomous factory efforts and later became a chief architect at autonomous driving company Neolix. The pair kept discussing industrial equipment after leaving Tesla, and eventually decided to start a company focused on improving it.
Training robots in a detailed simulation
Teaching robots to handle intricate physical work presents a data challenge. Robotics does not have the vast datasets available for AI models trained on internet content, and complex tasks such as assembling high-precision components require more than the ability to repeat a simple motion.
Industrial Next says its approach uses a high-fidelity simulation engine designed to closely match real-world dynamics. Robots can practice tasks in this virtual environment, where they build an understanding of the process. That training is meant to help them perform precise, dexterous work, including tasks involving parts they have barely seen.
This method could make a factory station more adaptable when products change. The company’s claim is that it can teach a task through simulation and demonstration, then redeploy the station on a different product line without writing a new hard-coded script for every variation.
From phone components to bigger ambitions
Pankau said some Industrial Next workstations are already used in making one of the world’s most popular smartphones, though he did not identify the customer. He described tasks that manufacturers had tried and failed to automate for years, including threading a delicate flex cable and fitting a tiny connector cap.
He also described a “film peeling” station that removes protective film from camera modules and buttons. According to Pankau, the AI-powered robots do this at or above human speed with 100% accuracy, including after being moved to a new phone model and a production line they had not encountered before.
The startup’s longer-term ambition reaches beyond phone production. Pankau said the company wants to tackle more complicated manufacturing tasks and ultimately build a full car end-to-end without any human touching ever. The BMW Group Technology Office evaluation is a step toward assessing how the company’s dexterous manipulation technology could apply in manufacturing.