Physical AI on CNC, not a humanoid on the mill

Week of 28 Aug–4 Sep 2026. IMTS is ten days out. The machining story is FANUC putting Physical AI on CNC, cobots, and a wet-milling robot at a show, not a humanoid in a cutting cell. Humanoid news was a Serbian assembly plant opening and a union vote in Korea.

What landed

3 Sep: FANUC at IMTS

FANUC America published its IMTS lineup (Booth 338900, 14–19 Sep): Physical AI on robots and on CNC.

Metal-cutting demos:

• AI toolpath generation
• programme generation from user instructions
• digital-twin machining improvements
• autonomous failure recovery

New ROBODRILL DC series machines (D54CS, D74CS, D116CS) debut. The new M-810/190-20B industrial robot will mill, drill and change tools in a wet-machining demo driven by FANUC CNC and robot G-code: an arm cutting, not a humanoid.

CRX cobots on the new R-50iA Compact DC controller, mounted on AMRs, are shown doing assembly, machine tending, part transport, inspection and washing. Also: dual-arm connector insertion with vision and force; bolt tightening on moving parts with Inbolt; a CRX-30iA assembling a planetary gearset with integrated force control.

29 Aug: Minth / AGIBOT in Šabac

Minth Group and AGIBOT marked the start of humanoid assembly at Minth’s metal-parts plant in Šabac, Serbia, billed as Europe’s first mass-production base for humanoids.

Phase one: €20 million, about 3,000 m², assembly, motion/vision calibration and performance tests. Later-phase plan: a robotics park and up to 20,000 humanoids and robot dogs a year. Serbian President Vučić hoped Šabac would assemble 5,000.

AGIBOT’s own figures: 5,168 humanoids delivered in 2025; about 8,400 in the first half of 2026, claimed as ~44% of global deliveries; 15,000th unit by mid-2026. The first unit off the Šabac line demonstrated calligraphy, folding clothes, chess and dancing. Minth says industrial use will be loading/unloading, handling and inspection.

28 Aug: Universal Robots, agentic cell

Universal Robots said an AI agent (Claude, via Claude Code) discovered four live cobots at its HQ, set them up, and ran them as one cell under Anthropic’s Model Hardware Standard research preview, handing payloads between applications from plain-language instructions.

UR is explicit: proof of concept; the standard is not generally available; the cobot safety architecture stays in charge underneath. Integration, not the arm, is the bottleneck they are trying to shrink.

31 Aug / 1 Sep: Hyundai union ratifies

Hyundai Motor’s Korean union ratified last week’s wage deal: 61.55% of 31,166 voting members (vote Monday; company Tuesday). Pay and bonuses; about 120 hours of production lost this year including the 21 Aug full-day strike.

On technology, Hyundai said both sides recognise AI and robotics as essential and agreed to further discussions on employment when rolling out new businesses: a conversation, not a shop-floor veto. Atlas in Georgia from 2028 is unchanged.

Gaps / contradictions

• FANUC’s Physical AI machining and wet-milling robot are booth demonstrations, not verified spindle hours or first-pass yield.
• Šabac is an assembly and calibration hall. The first robot’s public tricks were entertainment. 20,000 units is a later-phase capacity slide; 8,400 / 44% are AGIBOT’s own delivery numbers.
• UR’s four-cobot cell is an HQ preview. No CNC, no cycle time, no mill.
• Hyundai’s AI clause is information-sharing. Last week’s 30,000-unit US robot plant remains a 2028 capacity claim.
• No verified CNC-tending humanoid hours in this window. Live humanoid jobs remain handling, kitting, and light assembly, when they exist at all.
• Do not treat last week’s Limitless/Cimatron CAM agents, Xiaomi EV-line internship, Reuters last-millimetre investigation, FANUC 5-axis initiative, or Unitree’s IPO as new.

What to watch

1. IMTS 14–19 Sep: watch FANUC emit a toolpath from instructions and a robot mill in coolant; Siemens’ SINUMERIK Machine Tool Robot with Danobat; last week’s CAM agents using the shop’s own tools.
2. Ask for hours, cycle time, and first-pass yield — not capacity slides or calligraphy.
3. Serbia: first industrial load/unload hours, or Expo 2027 service robots.
4. The money in joints, servos, and gears still lands before any humanoid tends a mill.