India Needs to Build the AI 'Brain' for Robotics, Not Just Import Hardware

As India’s physical AI ambitions remain heavily tied to imported robotics hardware, US-based Avathon is taking a different route. It is building the intelligence layer that controls physical systems, while using India’s engineering talent and academic institutions to develop the deeper research needed to make those systems work across industrial environments. The company, which has operated since 2013, has set up a Physical AI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, with around 150 employees already