Robot AI Moves Toward Self-Reliance... Korea Embarks on Localization of Physical AI World Models (Comprehensive)

Kick-off Briefing for Physical AI Leading Technology Development Project

340 Billion Won Investment Over Two Years; Targeting World-Class Technology

Developing Proprietary Models; Securing Core World Model Technologies

The government is moving to localize the world model, considered a core technology of physical artificial intelligence (AI). By localizing key infrastructure that has previously depended on foreign solutions, Korea aims to achieve technological self-reliance and secure competitiveness in the global market.

Ryoo Jemyung, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated at the kickoff meeting for the "Physical AI Leading Technology Development" project held at LG Science Park in Magok, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of June 9, "Securing a large volume of high-quality data is essential to realize advanced general-purpose models. We have officially launched the Physical AI Leading Technology Development project to develop foundational technologies with our own hands."

Ryoo Jemyung, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, poses with LG Electronics' artificial intelligence (AI) home robot "CLOi" at the kickoff meeting for the "Physical AI Leading Technology Development" project held at LG Science Park, Magok, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 9th. Photo by Lee Myunghwan

This project is focused on localizing the core technologies of physical AI, which have had a high degree of reliance on foreign solutions. Vice Minister Ryoo emphasized, "Physical AI is a national core technology that will change the paradigm for Korea. Securing independent core infrastructure for physical AI is the starting point for Korea to become a leader in this field."

Physical AI is one of the central missions of the "K-Moonshot" AI-based national innovation project announced by the government earlier this year. It is gaining attention as a future technology that could transform all industrial sectors, while also being recognized as a strategic technology directly linked to data sovereignty and national security. Because it operates in real-world environments, malfunctions can pose risks, making sufficient pre-learning and validation in virtual environments essential.

The specific goals of the project are to secure original world model technology independently and to validate related domestic simulator technology. A world model refers to a model that understands the real world, predicts changes, and supports AI learning and decision-making.

Ten organizations spanning industry, academia, and research are participating, including LG Electronics as the lead institution, Maum AI, Holiday Robotics, Robotis, Crowdworks, Alchera, KT, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Seoul National University, and the Korea Information and Communication Technology Association.

Vice Minister Ryoo also mentioned that Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, met with Korean physical AI-related institutions such as LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor, and Seoul National University during his visit to Korea. He noted, "These meetings demonstrate how highly NVIDIA values the capabilities of Korea’s physical AI ecosystem." He added, "Vice Prime Minister Bae Kyunghoon also held a one-on-one meeting with CEO Huang to discuss ways to enhance Korea’s competitiveness in physical AI."

The Ministry of Science and ICT will invest a total of 34 billion won over two years starting this year, aiming to achieve world-class performance in a short period through research and development (R&D). Specifically, the project aims to improve the real-world simulation performance of the world model and its transfer to robot foundation models, with the goal of increasing the final operational success rate of actual robots by more than 20 percentage points compared to cases where the world model is not applied. This exceeds the current global best level.

To this end, a verification pipeline will be established, including rapid world model training, linkage with robot foundation models, demonstration and performance evaluation, case analysis, and retraining. The plan is to enhance the technological completeness through four rounds of iterative validation over two years. In the final stage, the goal is to produce commercially viable outcomes through demonstrations in real-world settings.

The 'AI Walker' robot by Robotis is following the researcher’s actions to move objects. Photo by Lee Myunghwan

Kim Youngjun, Head of the AI Research Center at LG Electronics, who leads the consortium, pointed out the current limitations of physical AI technology, such as physical consistency, the ability to perform tasks continuously, and the need for data retraining. Kim explained, "To fundamentally solve these issues, a world model that internalizes an understanding of the physical world is absolutely necessary. By leveraging data and experience centered on manufacturing sites, we will be able to develop high-completeness models and secure competitiveness."

Vice Minister Ryoo remarked, "Just as the research team achieved the miracle of localizing electronic switching systems (TDX) with extraordinary determination in the past, I believe that if we approach this project with the same resolve and sense of mission, Korea can become a world-leading power in physical AI."

Meanwhile, during the kickoff meeting, demonstrations were held showing LG Electronics' AI home robot "CLOi" and Robotis' "AI Walker" robot interacting with humans.

LG Electronics' home AI robot 'CLOi' in operation. Photo by Myunghwan Lee

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