The Coming K-Robot Era

Editor's NoteRobots equipped with high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) as their brains are now capable of making independent judgments and performing adaptive learning, making the question of "which robot is equipped with smarter AI" the key competitive advantage in robotics. The gap in hardware is narrowing, while software capabilities are becoming increasingly differentiated. This article examines the competitiveness of Korea's robot software and explores what efforts are needed for Korea to secure an edge in the coming era of robotics, competing with the United States, China, and others. Experts agree that for Korea to emerge as one of the world's top three powerhouses in the physical AI and humanoid robot industries alongside the United States and China, a fundamental shift toward an "AI-centric robot strategy" is essential. While some still approach the robot industry from the perspective of precision machinery, components, and manufacturing technology, others emphasize t

"While the United States and China are ahead in both software and hardware, South Korea can take the lead in the application sector by proactively expanding on-site implementation." Dongshin Son, a member of the Future Robotics Lab at LG CNS, stated in a recent interview with The Asia Business Daily at the LG CNS headquarters in Magok, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, "As a manufacturing powerhouse, South Korea is able to quickly produce case studies at industrial sites such as factories and logistics centers. Based on these, the country should move rapidly in the application sector by developing and providing solutions whose effectiveness has been proven in the field." Although significant progress has been made in automating areas with industrial and collaborative robots, the process of automating the most difficult, complex, and lengthy tasks with humanoids equipped with robotic brains remains extremely challenging. In this regard, China has not yet achieved full-scale mass production in terms of

"For physical AI, represented by robotics and autonomous driving technology, to become established across the domestic industry, there is a need for 'high-performance domain-specific AI models' from a software perspective." Sungwon Ahn, Head of the AI Research Division at the Software Policy Research Institute, stated in a recent interview with The Asia Business Daily, "We need to develop domain-specific models for sectors where we excel and have abundant data, such as manufacturing, finance, and healthcare, and target niche markets like the Middle East." High-performance domain-specific AI models are those that learn data from particular industrial sites and synchronize the process of 'perception-reasoning-execution' in real time, allowing the model to adjust and refine its responses according to the situation. Since securing high-quality, refined data is the key factor determining the competitiveness of physical AI, it is important for Korea to leverage its strengths rather than co

Korean robotics company Robotis has established a subsidiary in Uzbekistan and is embarking on the construction of a large-scale data factory. This move appears to be based on the assessment that "data" is the area where Korea, with its manufacturing strengths, can differentiate itself from the United States and China. A representative from Robotis stated, "The United States excels in software-based technologies, but due to its lack of a robust manufacturing environment, there is high demand for data. However, since it cannot outsource data to China, high-quality data from Korea is needed." He added, "By expanding data factory operations in Uzbekistan following our domestic operations, we will gather 'action data,' further enhance our competitiveness, and accelerate our global expansion." Park Ilwoo, Robotics Program Director (PD) at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "The Korean government aims to become one of the 'top three humanoid robot powers' through ecosystem coo

Robot company ROBOTIS is set to operate a data factory in Uzbekistan, deploying a large-scale workforce of 1,000 people. Having entered the Uzbekistan market, ROBOTIS is building a new plant on a 110,000-square-meter (33,275-pyeong) site. If the company completes its data factory as planned, it is expected to surpass the data factory of Chinese company Agibot, the world's leading humanoid robot manufacturer by shipment volume. According to the robotics industry on March 9, ROBOTIS established a subsidiary in Uzbekistan in January this year and will complete an ultra-large data factory for collecting robot motion data at the site in July. Full-scale operations are set to begin in October. Currently, at the early stage of building the data factory, approximately 100 personnel have been deployed. ROBOTIS plans to scale up its workforce in line with facility size, increasing the number of operational staff tenfold to 1,000 within the next two to three years. To accumulate robot data, it is

Editor's NoteRobots equipped with high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) as their brains are now capable of autonomous decision-making and adaptive learning, making “who has the smarter AI” a core competitive edge in robotics. While the gap in hardware is narrowing, software capabilities are becoming increasingly differentiated. This article examines the competitiveness of South Korea’s robot software industry and explores what efforts are needed to secure an edge against the United States, China, and others as the robot era approaches. South Korea’s robot software industry is often described as being structurally “sandwiched” between the power struggles of the United States and China. The United States holds an advantage in artificial intelligence (AI) and foundational software technologies, while China, leveraging massive capital and government support, is adding software capabilities to its competitive low-cost manufacturing. In this environment, South Korea is said to remain

Editor's NoteRobots equipped with high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) as their brains are now able to make autonomous decisions and perform adaptive learning, making the question of "who has the smarter AI" a core factor in robotic competitiveness. While the gap in robotic hardware is narrowing, differentiation in software capabilities is becoming increasingly pronounced. This article examines the competitiveness of South Korea's robot software and explores what efforts are necessary for Korea to secure an advantage in the coming robotics era as it competes with the United States, China, and others. On the afternoon of the 4th (local time), at the Honor exhibition hall at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 26, a humanoid robot greeted visitors at the entrance. When a visitor extended a hand, the robot responded by initiating a handshake and saying, "Nice to meet you." The humanoid robot also performed a dance with professional dancers, moving in perfect sync and delivering remarkabl

Editor's NoteRobots equipped with high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) as their brains are now capable of autonomous decision-making and adaptive learning, making "who has the smarter AI" the key competitive edge in robotics. While the hardware gap among robots is narrowing, differences in software capabilities have become much more pronounced. This article examines the competitiveness of Korea's robot software, and explores what efforts are required to secure an advantage over countries like the United States and China in the upcoming age of robotics. "The shift in the core of competition in the robotics industry from hardware (HW) to software (SW) is a structural change. In the past, performance in precision actuators, reducers, and sensors was synonymous with a robot's competitiveness, but now, intelligence and behavioral generation capabilities beyond hardware have become key differentiators." (Kim Ikjae, Director of the AI and Robotics Research Institute at Korea Institut