Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and Apple’s primary supplier of iPhones, is accelerating its shift toward full automation. In a keynote address at Computex 2025 in Taipei, company Chairman Young Liu declared that robots and generative AI will soon take over much of the manual work currently performed by human workers on assembly lines.
Speaking on May 21, 2025, Liu warned that advancing technology could make low-wage human labor increasingly unnecessary in electronics manufacturing. He emphasized that as countries become more prosperous, generative AI and robotics will fill the gap left by declining availability of low-skilled workers. “Generative AI and robotics will fill the void,” Liu stated, highlighting the opportunities and challenges this transition presents for developed economies.
AI Already Transforming Foxconn’s Operations
Liu revealed that Foxconn has integrated generative AI tools into its workflows with impressive results. The software now handles approximately 80% of the work required to configure equipment for new production runs—performing the task significantly faster than human teams. The company is also developing its own manufacturing-focused AI model, dubbed FoxBrain, based on Meta’s Llama 3 and 4 models combined with proprietary operational data. This system is designed for domain-specific shop-floor tasks, and Foxconn plans to open-source it.
In addition to AI, Foxconn produces around 10,000 of its proprietary Foxbots annually. These robots are being deployed to replace repetitive and physically demanding jobs. The company is using Nvidia’s Omniverse platform to create digital twins of factories, allowing AI to optimize layouts and processes before physical construction even begins.
While automation is advancing rapidly, Liu acknowledged its limitations. “We thought maybe we could replace every human… We quickly realised we could not,” he said. The combination of robots and human expertise (“bots and brains”) has proven effective for troubleshooting and boosting overall productivity, but human oversight remains essential for certain complex tasks.
Long-Term Automation Strategy
Foxconn has been pursuing automation for years. Its ambitious three-phase plan for Chinese factories includes automating dangerous and repetitive tasks first, followed by streamlining production lines, and ultimately achieving fully automated facilities where humans primarily handle logistics, testing, and inspections. The company’s massive Zhengzhou complex, known as “iPhone City,” is already progressing through these stages and is expected to become largely automated in the coming years.
This push comes amid broader industry trends. Rising labor costs in China, coupled with rapid advancements in robotics and AI, are encouraging manufacturers to reduce dependence on large human workforces. Foxconn has previously automated tens of thousands of positions at individual facilities.
What This Means for iPhone Production and Beyond
For Apple, greater automation at Foxconn could ease diversification of iPhone assembly beyond China into markets like India, Vietnam, and Brazil. While complex final assembly still requires high precision and flexibility, reducing reliance on low-cost labor could make production in higher-wage regions more viable over time.
The implications extend far beyond smartphones. Liu’s comments underscore a fundamental shift in global manufacturing, where AI and robotics increasingly handle routine work, potentially displacing millions of low-skilled jobs while creating demand for workers skilled in technology, maintenance, and system oversight.
As Foxconn continues investing heavily in these technologies, the electronics industry appears poised for one of its most significant transformations in decades. Full robot-built iPhones may not arrive overnight, but the direction is clear: the future of assembly lines is increasingly automated.
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