Krafton unveils robot AI 'Rudy 0.2' that reads people's intentions

[Financial News] Krafton has unveiled robot artificial intelligence (AI) technology that goes beyond understanding voice commands and conversational context to recognize human feedback and gestures, and to link locomotion with object manipulation. The company appears to be accelerating business diversification by expanding into robotics the real-time interaction technology it has developed through games.
Industry sources said on the 2nd that Ludo Robotics, Krafton's robotics research subsidiary, unveiled its AI system for robots, 'Rudy 0.2,' at the 2026 Bay Area Robotics Symposium (BARS), held at UC Berkeley in the US on October 30 (local time). Lee Kang-wook, Krafton's chief AI officer (CAIO) and Ludo Robotics' chief technology officer (CTO), gave the presentation.
'Rudy 0.2' is the follow-up to 'Rudy 0.1,' unveiled in August. It has enhanced ability to understand people's intentions and respond to changes in circumstances.
Rudy 0.1, unveiled earlier, is an AI system that combines a vision-language model (VLM), which handles conversation and reasoning, with locomotion and object manipulation capabilities. It understands voice commands and maintains conversational context, and when an instruction is unclear, it checks people's intentions by asking follow-up questions. It is designed to respond flexibly even when tasks change in a fixed environment.
For example, if a robot is on its way to bring someone a drink and is told to bring a different one instead, it stops what it is doing, picks up another drink in response to the new request, and delivers it.
Rudy 0.2 has further enhanced its ability to interact with people. It has strengthened its ability to respond to people's intentions and feedback, as well as social cues. Its memory and reasoning capabilities, which allow it to maintain context and make judgments even when tasks or circumstances change, have also been improved. It integrates locomotion, object manipulation and interaction capabilities, and can recognize and respond to human gestures. Its physical movement capabilities have also been enhanced so it can move smoothly and flexibly even in fixed environments.
Ludo Robotics is also developing 'Rudy 1.0,' a next-generation foundation model. Its goal is to integrate environmental perception, conversation and physical actions into a single model, enabling robots to share task details with people, communicate in real time and act.
Changhan Kim, CEO of Krafton and Ludo Robotics, said, "For nearly 20 years, Krafton has created virtual worlds that enable real-time interaction through games." He added, "Building on this experience, we are developing robotic AI that communicates and collaborates naturally with people in the real world as well."
Meanwhile, Ludo Robotics has officially opened a research lab in Palo Alto, California, US. The Palo Alto lab is the company's main research hub and conducts AI and robotics research alongside its Seoul office. The company plans to expand its engagement with Silicon Valley's talent and technology ecosystem.
[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter