LG CNS is taking strategic steps to dominate the emerging field of ‘Physical AI’ by advancing into the industrial humanoid robot market. The company recently signed a strategic partnership agreement with US-based AI robotics firm Skild AI and announced a joint investment through LG Technology Venture Capital.
Skild AI is recognized globally as a pioneering company in the AI robotics sector. Its co-founders, Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta, are esteemed professors specializing in computer engineering and robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. The company's core technology, known as the Robot Foundation Model (RFM), enables robots to learn from vast datasets—including images, text, speech, and videos—allowing them to autonomously explore, manipulate objects, and interact with their environment. Notably, this versatile technology can be applied to all types of robots, from humanoids to industrial machines.
Through this partnership, LG CNS plans to develop advanced industrial AI humanoid robot solutions based on Skild AI’s RFM. The new solutions will be optimized using data from manufacturing and logistics sites to support tasks that have traditionally been difficult for existing robots. Unlike earlier models that required separate development and control systems for each task, the robot foundation model enables robots to learn rapidly from site photos and videos and operate autonomously.
These industrial AI humanoid robots are expected to perform tasks such as factory equipment monitoring, product assembly, handling of hazardous materials, and picking and stacking in logistics centers—all of which involve repetitive, high-intensity, and risky operations. In urban environments, they could also serve as service robots for elder care and patrol duties.
LG CNS aims to offer an ‘AI Humanoid Robot Integrated Service’ to diverse industry clients across sectors such as smart manufacturing, logistics, and city infrastructure. This integrated service will combine Skild AI’s RFM technology, LG CNS’s proprietary robot control and management platform, and hardware developed in partnership with robot manufacturers. It will also integrate smart factory, logistics, and city solutions.
LG CNS’s Senior Vice President, Junho Lee, head of the Smart Factory, Logistics, and City Business Division, stated, “Through our collaboration with the world-renowned AI robot company Skild AI, we aim to introduce the highest-level intelligent AI robot services. We are committed to transforming customer operations and actively supporting business growth through AI humanoid robots.”
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs predicts that the global humanoid robot market will grow at an average annual rate of 50.2%, reaching approximately $38 billion (around 53 trillion KRW) by 2035.
