After a few years of a generative artificial intelligence (AI) boom, a new phase is emerging that extends AI beyond screens and into the physical world. Across industries, companies are accelerating their shift toward physical AI, embedding intelligence into robots, autonomous systems, manufacturing and even defense infrastructure.
A machine with physical AI is designed to perceive its surroundings, make decisions in real time and execute tasks autonomously as adaptive, decision-driven systems. The International Federation of Robotics expects installations of industrial robots to return to growth this year after a post‑pandemic slump, giving physical AI a wider factory footprint worldwide.
Korean conglomerates, including Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motor Group and Hanwha, are moving quickly to stake out positions in this emerging landscape, leveraging their strengths in manufacturing, components and hardware integration, positioning physical AI as a long-term growth engine.
LG Electronics’ CLOiD robot makes a heart with its hands at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Jan. 6 (local time). Yonhap
LG targets components, home robotics
LG Group’s affiliates are also repositioning around physical AI, declaring 2026 as the starting point for going full-scale into robotics. Facing slowing growth in traditional home appliance markets, the company is targeting new opportunities in robotics, autonomous systems and AI-driven hardware.
LG Electronics is moving into actuators, the joint‑like components that move a robot’s arms and legs, which can account for more than 40 percent of robot production costs. It plans to design and manufacture these components in-house and supply them to global robot manufacturers as part of a business-to-business strategy for global robot makers.
At its shareholder meeting on Monday, its CEO Lyu Jae-cheol outlined the company’s direction, stressing to leverage its long‑standing expertise in appliance motors and high‑volume manufacturing.
“We will make this year the starting point for full-scale robotics business expansion and execute detailed strategies with speed,” he said during the meeting.
LG also plans to accelerate its home robot initiatives, leveraging massive data accumulated from AI-powered appliances and by deepening partnerships with global tech firms and other LG Group units.
At CES 2026 in Las Vegas early this year, LG unveiled LG CLOiD, an AI‑powered home robot designed to perform and coordinate household chores by controlling connected LG appliances.
Meanwhile, LG Innotek is targeting the sensing layer of physical AI, announcing that it will become a solutions provider. Drawing on its expertise in smartphone cameras and automotive light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and radar, the company plans to sharply strengthen its components manufacturing capabilities with a focus on areas such as autonomous driving and robotics.
Its CEO Moon Hyuk-soo shared that the company will start mass production of robot components by 2027 or 2028 with the expectation to see “meaningful” revenue figures in about three to four years.
“We are actively discussing complex sensing modules, including light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and cameras, with major customers in the U.S. and Europe,” he told the press after the company’s shareholders’ meeting on Monday.
Samsung SDI’s all-solid-state battery lineup is displayed at InterBattery 2026 at COEX in Gangnam District, Seoul, March 11. Yonhap
Samsung scales investments across AI stack
Samsung Electronics is approaching physical AI through large-scale investment and ecosystem building.
At its shareholders’ meeting last week, the company announced that it plans to spend more than 110 trillion won this year on R&D and facilities, over 20 percent more than the previous year, to secure the lead in AI semiconductors and scale new growth businesses such as robots, medtech and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).
Roh Tae-moon, the company’s mobile device division chief, shared at CES 2026 that it is developing foundational technologies for the physical AI engine in collaboration with its subsidiary, Rainbow Robotics.
“We are reviewing investments in a wide range of resources and related companies needed for that effort,” he said.
The company plans to first roll out industrial robots across its own manufacturing lines before expanding toward more advanced, multi-purpose intelligent robots. Its long-running partnership with Qualcomm, which recently introduced the Dragonwing IQ10 robot processor, could further strengthen capabilities in on-device AI processing.
Its affiliate, Samsung SDI, is positioning itself as a key physical AI supplier from the power side, showcasing next‑generation batteries tailored for robots and AI data centers.
At InterBattery 2026 earlier this month, the company unveiled pouch‑type solid‑state battery samples designed for humanoid robots and other physical AI applications.
These batteries are designed to meet the unique constraints of robotics, such as limited space, high energy density requirements and peak power demand during operation.
Samsung SDI is expanding beyond the prismatic all‑solid-state cells it has developed for electric vehicles (EV) to serve robots, aviation systems and next‑generation wearables, with humanoid and EV solid‑state batteries targeted for volume production starting next year.
Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot demonstrates moving parts at Hyundai Motor’s booth at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Jan. 7 (local time). Yonhap
Hyundai bets on humanoids and industrial deployment
Hyundai Motor Group has placed robotics and autonomous systems at the center of its future strategy, unveiling its humanoid robot Atlas, built by its affiliate Boston Dynamics, at CES 2026 earlier this year, drawing significant attention as a demonstration of physical AI’s implementation on the factory floor.
Atlas delivers nearly full joint rotation and a 360-degree vision system. It can lift loads of up to 40 kilograms and operate across extreme temperatures, from minus 20 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius. Equipped with tactile sensors, the waterproof robot’s manipulators can perform tasks at heights of up to 2.3 meters.
The group announced it plans to build out manufacturing capacity for about 30,000 robots per year and deploy them at its Metaplant America facility in Georgia by 2028, focusing initially on parts sequencing and other repetitive tasks.
In parallel, Hyundai Motor has committed roughly 9 trillion won ($6.02 billion) to develop a robotics and hydrogen industrial cluster in Saemangeum, a large piece of reclaimed land in North Jeolla Province next to the West Sea, aiming to integrate AI, manufacturing and energy infrastructure.
The cluster will include a robot manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 units and a dedicated manufacturing and parts cluster for partner companies.
Hyundai Motor Executive Chair Chung Euisun framed the strategy as a response to intensifying global uncertainty.
“2025 was a year of unprecedented changes in the business environment … 2026 will be the year when the risks we anticipated become reality,” he said in his New Year address earlier this year. “The way to overcome these challenges lies in fundamental transformation driven by reflection.”
The group has also strengthened its human resources, appointing robotics and AI expert Milan Kovac as an adviser and outside director at Boston Dynamics, signaling a deeper push into advanced robotics ecosystems.
A poster for Krafton’s title PUBG: Battlegrounds / Courtesy of Krafton
Hanwha, Krafton form defense-oriented AI alliance
Beyond manufacturing and consumer applications, physical AI is also expanding into defense. Hanwha Aerospace and game developer Krafton recently formed a strategic alliance to jointly develop core physical AI technologies and establish a joint venture that will pursue commercialization in defense and other sectors.
The alliance pairs Krafton’s AI research and large‑scale virtual world simulation, refined through its titles such as PUBG: Battlegrounds, with Hanwha’s extensive defense and manufacturing infrastructure. The idea is to use game‑quality simulation and data operations to train and verify AI agents before pushing them into robots, autonomous systems and other hardware operating in real-world environments.
Under the agreement, the companies will roll out joint R&D programs for core physical AI, stage pilots and scenario tests and build shared technical and operational frameworks.
Krafton will also invest in a fund managed by Hanwha Asset Management that focuses on AI, robotics and defense, with a target size of $1 billion.
Originally written by: Lee Gyu-lee
Source: The Korea Time
Published on: 26 March 2026
Link to original article: Companies pivot to physical AI, from robots to defense alliances
