Samsung Electronics has established a Robotics eXperience (RX) Business Promotion Office that will be led by CEO TM Roh. This division will consolidate Samsung’s existing robotic research and development efforts.
Lee Dong-geon, who previously led robot strategies for Boston Dynamics while he was at Hyundai, will serve as the head of the Robotics Strategy Team. The RX division will be headquartered at Samsung’s Seoul R&D Campus in Umyeon-dong, but the company will open research hubs in the US, China and Japan.
Samsung’s plan is to focus on industrial robots first – it wants to use advanced robotics for automation across its manufacturing facilities as a proving ground before offering such robots to other manufacturers. If all goes according to plan, all Samsung manufacturing facilities will turn into “AI autonomous factories” by 2030.
Samsung is interested in humanoid robots too – Kim Eui-gyeom, an Ajou University professor specializing in robotic hands and manipulation, has also joined the RX team. Samsung already had a Robotic Hand Lab, which reportedly has developed a highly advanced but undisclosed robo-hand technology.
Additionally, Samsung will fund robotics startups and will seek to further strengthen its position through mergers and acquisitions. This is already underway – in 2024, Samsung became the largest shareholder in Rainbow Robotics, which makes robots like the robo dog in the video above.
There is no shortage of competition. You may have seen Tesla’s Optimus robot (which became the focus of the Fremont plant after Tesla killed off the Model S and X), but there’s more. A few weeks ago LG announced its Robotics Business Center. An Honor robot recently won a half marathon, Unitree has humanoid robots, one of which was used to drop test phones. Hisense announced a humanoid robot named Harley this January.
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