Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk, Launches AI Service Robot Project in Spain

"Help Needed to Manufacture Service Robots"

Hope to Lead AI Future Core Technologies

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, held business meetings in Barcelona, Spain, where the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 is being held, consecutively meeting with KT and Bear Robotics, a promising Silicon Valley startup, to establish a global ecosystem for AI+service robot manufacturing, Gyeongbuk Province announced on the 1st.

At MWC 2023, the future of service robot technology is being showcased at domestic and international company booths, including the KT pavilion.

Gyeongbuk Governor Lee Cheol-woo is meeting Ha Jung-woo, CEO of Bear Robotics (right in the photo), and presenting a plaque of appreciation.

On the 27th of last month, Governor Lee met with KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo to discuss cooperation plans for super-large AI between Gyeongbuk Province and KT. At this meeting, they agreed to specifically collaborate on utilizing KT’s super-large AI “Mideum” technology for elderly care and dementia prevention in Gyeongbuk.

Then, on the 28th of last month, during a business meeting with Bear Robotics, various cooperation plans were discussed to elevate Gyeongbuk as a global manufacturing base for service robots.

Bear Robotics, founded in 2017 in Silicon Valley by CEO Ha Jung-woo, a former Intel and Google software engineer, is the world’s first autonomous driving serving robot company. It holds the number one market share for serving robots in the United States and Japan and is expanding its business into Europe and Southeast Asia.

Gyeongbuk Province plans to support the distribution of AI+service robots, innovate regulations related to AI+service robots, foster specialized personnel in AI+service robot development and utilization, and establish an AI+service robot data platform alliance.

Ha Jung-woo, CEO of Bear Robotics, said, “Gyeongsangbuk-do has excellent AI+service robot manufacturing capabilities,” adding, “We need to build a global ecosystem for AI+service robot manufacturing that develops optimal functions and services through accumulation of demonstration data and feedback.”

In response, Governor Lee said, “I was impressed by the success know-how and global business capabilities of K-startups standing out in Silicon Valley,” and added, “There is an urgent need to develop the next-generation manufacturing platform that will follow the experience and know-how accumulated in smartphone manufacturing. Taking this meeting with KT and Bear Robotics as an opportunity, we will actively review plans to create a global ecosystem for AI+service robot manufacturing and lead the core AI future technologies in Gyeongbuk.”