France's industrial automation solutions company Schneider Electric will acquire industrial AI firm Cognite for $3.1 billion, SiliconANGLE reported on Monday.

It is part of an effort to strengthen its AI software and industrial data business.

The acquisition also shows industrial AI is changing, SiliconANGLE reported.

Industrial AI has largely been limited to logging data from industrial sites such as power plants and flagging issues that require maintenance. Recently, it has evolved into autonomous AI that can make decisions and act on its own.

Cognite has developed software that consolidates unrefined data from across industrial sites so AI agents can use it autonomously.

The Cognite platform combines agentic AI with an integrated data model and a knowledge graph. Its core products include Data Fusion, which handles data cleansing and connection, and an agent layer called Atlas AI that increases automation and speeds decision-making. Through this, an agent can detect a pump showing signs of failure, order needed parts and schedule repairs. A person gives final approval.

Olivier Blum (올리비에 블룸), Schneider Electric's CEO, said, "Cognite has built a true industrial-grade AI platform," and added, "This acquisition will place Schneider Electric at the center of the next stage of industrial intelligence."