[Humanoid Tech War] "There were leading fields in quadrupeds... Korea becomes a biped robot chaser"

Interview with Professor Kim Yongjae of Korea University of Technology and Education
"Demand for short-term results and quantitative goals... Boldness needed"

Tesla's humanoid model, Optimus, is walking. [Image source=Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, X capture]

"The United States and China are also accelerating their support for startups. Korea's investment scale is definitely smaller than that of foreign countries, and the conditions are more demanding."

In the U.S., massive capital from big tech companies is being invested, and China is actively pursuing humanoid technology dominance at the government level, but the domestic situation is often evaluated as a calm zone. Support becomes especially poor as startups progress. Professor Kim Yong-jae of the Department of Electrical, Electronics and Communication Engineering at Korea University of Technology and Education (and co-CEO of WeRobotics) emphasizes, "There are many cases where short-term results or quantitative goals are demanded, so there are many times when limits are encountered." Professor Kim has a long research career in the field of robotic hands and is also developing wearable and humanoid technologies.

Until about 3 to 4 years ago, there was reportedly no significant technological gap between overseas robot companies and domestic ones. In fact, there was even an evaluation that in the case of quadruped robots, which preceded bipedal walking, Korea was leading in some areas. Professor Kim said, "When Tesla's Optimus was first unveiled, I was invited to see it in person, and many opinions were that the technical level was not high," adding, "With a lot of money and manpower continuously invested in Optimus, it has now entered a completely different phase."

Of course, investments are also being made domestically. LG Electronics signed a new share subscription agreement to acquire a stake in Bear Robotics with an investment of $60 million (approximately 79.3 billion KRW). Bear Robotics is developing AI-based autonomous indoor delivery robots and is providing serving robot services in Korea, the U.S., Japan, and other countries.

Samsung Electronics secured a 14.83% stake in Rainbow Robotics through a strategic investment worth 87 billion KRW last year. It is also known to have invested in Figure AI, a U.S. robotics company boasting a corporate value of $2 billion. Hyundai Motor Company acquired Boston Dynamics in 2021 with an investment of approximately 960 billion KRW and produced the humanoid robot "Atlas." The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to invest a total of 52.3 billion KRW this year to support next-generation advanced robot technology development. Support targets include humanoid core technologies, smart actuators, and AI software development.

However, there are still criticisms that support for domestic startups, rather than overseas or well-known companies, remains insufficient. For industrial development, a solid foundation is necessary, and startups are responsible for this, but in reality, they are being pushed aside.

Professor Kim said, "Figure AI also started as a startup but presented challenging goals from the beginning and actively gathered talent to focus, becoming a large company today," adding, "Robot development is a kind of comprehensive art where personnel and technologies from various fields come together to find the optimum, but in Korea, it is practically difficult to go through this process."

He argues that a progressive mindset is needed before the gap widens further. Professor Kim emphasized, "If we miss the current early stage of the industry, we will inevitably remain in a follower position," and "Because the future is uncertain, more and more robotic talents are leaving, so a shift in thinking to boldly invest in technology development rather than immediate profits is urgently needed."