Explosive Growth in the Humanoid Market... MOTIE Reviews Strategies with Robot Companies

"AI Robot M.AX Alliance" Roundtable
Discussing Strategies to Foster the Humanoid Robot Industry
Promoting Localization of Core Components and Expansion of Industrial Field Demonstrations

Kim Jeong-Kag, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, visited AiRobot located at Hanyang University ERIC Campus Startup Incubation Center in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province on January 13, inspecting the humanoid robot development process. Photo by Yonhap News.

Collaboration between the government, companies, and research institutes is accelerating to foster the humanoid robot industry as a next-generation growth engine.

On March 5th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will hold the "AI Robot M.AX Alliance Roundtable" at the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul, chaired by Kim Sung-Yeol, Director-General for Industrial Growth, to discuss strategies for developing the humanoid robot industry.

Attendees at the roundtable include representatives from companies such as Hyundai Motor Company, Airobot, Robros, Yuil Robotics, Tesolo, and Hyzen RNM, as well as stakeholders from Seoul National University, Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, and Korea Electronics Technology Institute. They will review the current state of the domestic humanoid robot industry and exchange opinions on future policy directions.

As the potential for deploying humanoid robots in industrial settings has increased recently, the global market is also rapidly expanding. According to global research firm Counterpoint, worldwide humanoid robot revenue surpassed 500 million dollars for the first time in 2025, and is expected to grow to 4.4 billion dollars next year.

Global competition to gain market leadership is intensifying. US AI semiconductor company Nvidia is expanding its business into humanoid robot learning and simulation platforms, while Chinese companies such as Unitree are launching mass-produced humanoid robots with strong price competitiveness.

Korea is aiming to become one of the top three humanoid robot powerhouses by strengthening ecosystem collaboration centered on the "AI Robot M.AX Alliance." Joint development and technology exchange among companies are being promoted through the alliance, and at CES this year, collaborative achievements were demonstrated by showcasing work demonstrations of humanoid robots equipped with artificial intelligence (AI).

At today’s roundtable, a variety of policy issues will be discussed, including securing and utilizing data for humanoid robot learning, localizing core component technologies such as actuators and robot hands, expanding industrial field demonstrations, strengthening the industry-academia-research cooperation ecosystem, and improving regulations to promote wider adoption of robots.

Kim Sung-Yeol, Director-General for Industrial Growth, stated, "Just as the world cheered for Atlas at CES 2026, humanoid robots will become the new battleground for competition among global big tech companies. We will significantly expand R&D and demonstration support centered around the M.AX Alliance to ensure Korea secures an edge in global competition."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.