At the GTC developer conference in California (USA), KION is presenting an autonomous forklift truck and an AI-based safety solution designed to locate people and industrial trucks in warehouse environments.
2026-03-18
“Innovating, automating and orchestrating solutions”: Our KION booth at GTC
How does advanced AI translate into measurable value for customers? At the GTC conference, we are presenting two concrete examples that demonstrate exactly that.
GTC is one of the world’s most important technology and developer conferences for artificial intelligence. This year, we are once again on site in San José, California, showcasing two industrial applications of physical AI that mark the transition from simulation-based development to real-world operations:
Our first autonomous, AI-supported industrial truck
The autonomous industrial truck has already been deployed in a logistics center operated by GXO Logistics in Épinoy, France. GXO is the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider. The site – where more than 200 manually operated industrial trucks are currently in use – serves as a pilot environment for KION’s physical AI solutions.
Before the system was deployed, the warehouse was captured using spatial scanners and transformed into a digital twin. The vehicle now carries out complete transport orders autonomously during live operations. Using AI-supported cameras mounted on the ceiling and on the vehicle itself, it detects pallets and transports them to predefined destination points.
A key feature: the autonomous vehicle operates side by side with manually driven forklifts, without human intervention. “We are translating advanced AI into tangible value for our operations. This pilot project helps us explore the possibilities for the future of the supply chain,” says Patrick Kelleher, CEO of GXO Logistics.
The second practical example presented at GTC is a safety solution for warehouse environments based on AI-supported human detection. It uses NVIDIA’s Halos Foundation Model to identify and locate both people and industrial trucks. The model is specifically trained with KION data to support applications in intralogistics.
The solution is designed for automated truck loading – a use case that was already demonstrated in October 2025 at CeMAT in Shanghai. For this system, KION uses permanently installed cameras connected to an NVIDIA edge AI platform. A proof of concept in a live warehouse environment is planned for later this year.
These two flagship projects mark the transition from purely simulation-based development to deployment in live operations.
“Our customers are facing growing labor shortages while at the same time needing to boost operational efficiency. By integrating intelligent autonomous mobile robots and AI-enabled camera systems into supply chain operations, KION is delivering real-world solutions.”
At GTC for KION: from left, Rob Smith, Eike Wibrow, Steve Bentley and CP Quek
With these developments, the strategic collaboration between KION, NVIDIA and Accenture moves into its next phase. The goal is to bring AI and digital twins directly into real supply chain environments, closely integrating AI-based perception, simulation and fleet orchestration.
KION is presenting two industrial applications of physical AI: an autonomous industrial truck and a safety solution based on AI-supported human detection.
Yes. At the GTC developer conference, KION introduced an AI-supported autonomous industrial truck that can execute complete transport orders independently. The vehicle is already deployed in a GXO Logistics warehouse in Épinoy, France.
Yes. Together with NVIDIA and Accenture, KION is working to bring AI and digital twins into real supply chain environments by combining AI-based perception, simulation and fleet orchestration.
