Siemens and Alibaba Collaborating on AI Manufacturing
AI / Robotics | 5 min read
At the Siemens RXD Summit in Beijing on 23 March 2026, Siemens unveiled a major expansion of its partnership with Alibaba Cloud and introduced 26 new edge, automation, and control technologies designed to bring industrial AI from experimentation into large-scale deployment across factories, infrastructure, and industrial supply chains. More than 2,000 customers, partners, developers, and industry leaders gathered at the event, where Siemens President and CEO Roland Busch was joined on stage by Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai, Unitree Robotics founder Wang Xingxing, and CATL's Chief Manufacturing Officer Professor Ni Jun.
"Bringing AI into the real world requires more than great models. It requires an industrial AI operating system: a technology stack that connects data, software and intelligent hardware. Here in Beijing, we are showing how this system is advancing — with deeper partnerships and new products built around our customers' real needs."
— Roland Busch, President and CEO, Siemens AG
The Alibaba Cloud Partnership: CAE as Infrastructure-as-a-Service
The centrepiece of the partnership expansion is the delivery of computer-aided engineering (CAE) capabilities as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) for customers in China — combining Siemens' simulation portfolio with Alibaba Cloud's advanced computing and trusted cloud infrastructure. Through this collaboration, Siemens will validate and deploy its cloud-enabled CAE solutions on Alibaba Cloud, giving engineering teams access to scalable simulation environments, virtual simulation appliances, and high-performance computing clusters through the cloud — eliminating the need for expensive on-premise hardware. The partnership also explores how Alibaba's Qwen large language models could be integrated into Siemens' product lifecycle management (PLM) software, opening new possibilities for AI-assisted engineering workflows and intelligent product development.
"As we enter the era of Industrial AI, we are more convinced than ever that only a strong ecosystem can truly unlock AI's vast potential. Siemens is combining its global technological strengths with China's speed of innovation, industrial scale and rich application scenarios to enable high-quality growth for customers in China and beyond."
— Xiao Song, President and CEO, Siemens Greater China
26 New Products: From the Factory Floor to AI Infrastructure
Alongside the Alibaba partnership, Siemens introduced 26 new locally developed products spanning industrial infrastructure, automation, and AI-powered applications. Key highlights include:
- • New programmable logic controllers (PLCs) with significantly improved performance and memory capacity — acting as the control brain of production lines and coordinating machines in real time
- • Advanced motion technologies including compact servo systems that translate digital commands into highly accurate robotic and machine motion while reducing system complexity and cost
- • AI-powered predictive maintenance software designed to optimise industrial operations by identifying and addressing failures before they occur
- • New AI infrastructure technologies — including electrification and AI-powered cooling solutions — specifically designed for the demands of high-density data centres and the next generation of AI infrastructure, including Alibaba Cloud's Zhangbei Data Center
Humanoid Robotics: The Next Frontier
Siemens also signalled interest in exploring partnerships with Chinese humanoid robotics startups including Unitree Technology and Galbot. Unitree's founder Wang Xingxing shared progress on robot training in simulated environments, with the goal of eventually deploying robots in real industrial production settings — a use case that aligns directly with Siemens' simulation capabilities and cross-industry data assets. Siemens' President and CEO noted that the company's data across multiple industries holds significant value for emerging sectors like embodied intelligence, which still lacks sufficient training data at scale.
Key Takeaways
- • Siemens expanded its partnership with Alibaba Cloud at the RXD Summit in Beijing (23 March 2026), unveiling 26 new industrial AI products before 2,000+ customers and partners to accelerate AI deployment from pilot to production scale.
- • The partnership will deliver Siemens' computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools as Infrastructure-as-a-Service on Alibaba Cloud — giving engineering teams access to scalable simulation environments and high-performance computing clusters without expensive on-premise hardware.
- • The collaboration will explore integrating Alibaba's Qwen large language models into Siemens' product lifecycle management software — enabling AI-assisted engineering workflows and intelligent product development.
- • New products include next-generation PLCs for real-time machine coordination, compact servo systems for robotic motion, AI-powered predictive maintenance, and AI-optimised cooling and electrification technologies for high-density data centres.
- • Siemens is also exploring partnerships with Chinese humanoid robotics startups Unitree Technology and Galbot, positioning its industrial simulation data as a training asset for embodied intelligence — an emerging sector with limited available data.