[Exclusive] "Nvidia Researchers to Work in Yangjae"... LG Electronics to Establish 'Joint Robotics Development Base'

After Madison Hwang's Proposal, Companies Move to Establish a Joint Development Space
Collaboration Hub to Open Next Month Inside Yangjae Data Factory
Aiming to Advance Robotic Models and Shorten Technology Development Timelines

LG Electronics is establishing a “Physical AI” joint development hub in partnership with NVIDIA at the Yangjae Data Factory in Seoul. Engineers from both companies will work together in the same space to develop and improve robot models. The strategy is to strengthen competitiveness in the robotics business by combining LG Electronics’ manufacturing and robotics data with NVIDIA’s AI and robotics technologies.

According to the industry on September 21, the two companies plan to set up an “AI Joint Development Hub” (tentative name) inside the Data Factory next month. NVIDIA engineers are expected to work on joint projects with LG Electronics researchers there. The goal is to facilitate technological exchange and accelerate development by creating a dedicated collaboration space for both companies.

This initiative took concrete shape after Madison Huang, Senior Director of Omniverse and Robotics Product Marketing at NVIDIA, visited the Data Factory last month. A representative from NVIDIA explained, “During his visit to Korea, Mr. Huang suggested that NVIDIA employees should conduct research together with LG Electronics in the same space.” Subsequently, LG Electronics actively pursued the creation of the collaborative workspace.

A representative from LG Electronics stated, “Since signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) in August, working-level teams from both companies have been collaborating on various joint projects both online and offline,” adding, “We are unable to disclose specific details of the collaboration.”

At the joint development hub, data collected during robot operations will be analyzed and used for AI training. The process involves generating virtual data to help robots learn multiple environments and tasks, then applying the training results to actual robots. Both companies intend to repeat this process to enhance robots’ decision-making abilities and task accuracy.

LG Electronics is building the Data Factory with the aim of launching it within this year. The facility will train robots in areas modeled after actual homes, factories, and logistics sites. The company plans to increase the number of robots in operation to several hundred by the end of the year, and combine real and synthetic data to secure training data totaling 100,000 hours—an amount that would require a single robot to work nonstop for about 12 years to collect.

This data will be used to advance the Robot Foundation Model (RFM), which acts as the “brain” of humanoid robots. After learning from a wide range of task data, the RFM will enable robots to recognize their environment and make the necessary decisions, even when encountering new situations for the first time.

NVIDIA’s technology will be used to augment data collected in real-world environments within virtual settings. Because it is nearly impossible to recreate every real-life scenario, the companies will use simulations to generate diverse data for robot training. LG Electronics expects that this approach will shorten development timelines and increase the completeness of robot models.

The collaboration between the two companies gained full momentum last month. On August 13 (local time), they signed an MOU for cooperation in future strategic business areas at NVIDIA’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California, USA. Later that month, on August 18, Mr. Huang and other NVIDIA representatives visited the Yangjae Data Factory to inspect the facilities and discuss directions for their joint efforts.

The LG Group is also accelerating related businesses after designating AI and robotics as key future growth pillars. Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, recently emphasized the importance of speed and execution in AI and robotics during an executive meeting. LG Electronics plans to apply Physical AI technologies to household and industrial robots, leveraging data accumulated from real environments such as homes and factories.

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