KT Launches Full-Scale Physical AI Business for Manufacturing Sites

[Financial News] KT is joining forces with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and physical AI specialist Dime Research to develop and commercialize physical AI technologies for manufacturing sites. The three parties will combine AI, robotics and network technologies to automate manufacturing processes and expand their cooperation into global markets based on technologies validated in South Korea.
KT announced on the 8th that it had signed an MOU with KAIST and Dime Research to develop, demonstrate and commercialize physical AI technologies. The agreement was pursued after the three organizations discussed business cooperation during the second phase of the Physical AI Alliance, led by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The three organizations will combine their respective expertise to commercialize a dark factory platform for realizing unmanned factories. They also plan to jointly identify new business opportunities in physical AI and cooperate on taking "K-physical AI" into global markets.
The dark factory platform commercialization project will be carried out under the Ministry of Science and ICT's "2026 Project for Establishing an R&D Ecosystem for Software Platforms Based on Collaborative-Intelligence Physical AI." The project aims to develop and demonstrate an AI-based unmanned and automated platform that enables manufacturing sites to operate autonomously. The three organizations will participate together for the next five years.
The three organizations will focus on developing technologies to automate manufacturing processes, drawing on the logistics and manufacturing robot control platforms and robotics technologies held by KAIST and Dime Research. They will build testbeds resembling actual industrial sites to validate the technologies and expand their applications in manufacturing based on the demonstration results.
KT will provide an operations platform capable of centrally managing various robots and AI systems based on a data platform. It will support robots' real-time decision-making and control by using edge AI, which processes data close to manufacturing sites, along with ultra-high-speed, ultra-low-latency network infrastructure. KT will also combine simulation technologies for AI training and performance verification of robots with its capabilities in integrating AI agent-based systems. Through these efforts, it aims to create a physical AI environment in which robots recognize their surroundings, make decisions autonomously and perform tasks at manufacturing sites.
The three organizations plan to gradually expand their cooperation by training specialized personnel to promote technology adoption and pursuing entry into global markets.
Park Sang-won, executive vice president and head of KT's AX Business Division, said, "KT will bring together its AX capabilities, including AI agents, edge AI and networks, to support the intelligent transformation of manufacturing sites. Together with our partners, we will contribute to strengthening South Korea's competitiveness in physical AI."
[email protected] Choi Hye-rim Reporter