Physical AI Is on the Rise

October 2, 2026

Three projects from Bavaria are among those selected across Europe for the EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges. The focus is on physical AI, AI-supported robotics, and new applications ranging from industrial assembly to humanoid robotics.

As part of the EIC Advanced Innovation Challenge, the European Innovation Council (EIC) has selected 20 projects from across Europe for the first phase of the funding program. A total of 709 applications were received from 39 countries. The program centers on the themesof “Accelerating Physical AI”and new approaches in the field of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).

Particularly encouraging from a Bavarian perspective: Five of the funded projects are from Germany, three of which are from Bavaria. All five German projects fall under the priority area “Accelerating Physical AI: Embodied Intelligence for the Next Frontier of AI-Powered Robotics.”

The three successful projects from Bavaria demonstrate different potential applications of AI-supported robotics:

• Fraunhofer Society – “FlexAmp”: Development of a solution for the autonomous assembly of flexible cable harnesses using robotics.
• Devanthro GmbH – “Robody”: Humanoid robots for home-based elder care.
• Formove GmbH – “FORMOVE”: Collection, labeling, and analysis of large volumes of high-quality data on human movements and interactions

Each of the selected projects will receive 300,000 euros for a period of up to nine months. In this initial phase, the solutions are to be further developed and validated, and tests and comparative analyses are to be conducted.
Particularly promising projects will then have the opportunity to advance to a second funding phase, where up to 2.5 million euros can be provided to further develop the technologies and test them under real-world conditions.

The Mechatronics & Automation Cluster extends its warmest congratulations to the three funded companies from Bavaria!

Note: AI was used in part to generate this news article.