The government is accelerating efforts to secure competitiveness in humanoids by combining AI and robotics technology. It aims to pool capabilities from industry, academia and research institutes to secure a world-leading "national team" K-humanoid platform within three years.

The Ministry of Science and ICT held a meeting on Aug. 25 to gather views from industry, academia and research institutes on a draft "K-Moonshot AI Humanoid Mission Roadmap".

The meeting was arranged to share the direction and implementation roadmap for the "K-Moonshot AI Humanoid Mission", a national challenge and innovation-oriented research and development project. It also sought to reflect opinions from experts in robot hardware and software, parts and finished products, and manufacturing.

The government is pushing the "K-Moonshot AI Humanoid Mission" to link everything from core technology development to demonstration and mass production by combining domestic manufacturing capabilities with AI technology. It plans to localise AI models and key parts and to mobilise industry-academia-research capabilities to secure a world-leading humanoid platform within three years.

At the meeting, mission chief manager Joon-gu Yeo (여준구) presented the humanoid mission roadmap. The ministry also shared plans for new projects, including the "Next-X Humanoid Challenge", which will evaluate humanoid robots developed in South Korea, select candidates and support development.

The ministry plans to make a final selection of a national team-level humanoid platform through the challenge starting in 2027. It also held an appointment ceremony for members of the "Humanoid Mission Steering Committee" to support the mission.

Participants discussed measures including development of core foundational humanoid technologies and securing data. They also discussed building a foundation for industry-academia-research cooperation, industrialising research outcomes and linking efforts to entry into global markets.

Yeo said that the next big wave after AI would be physical intelligence that can judge and move on its own in the physical world, and that humanoids are the core platform for it. He said South Korea should foster technology-sovereign K-humanoids as a national strategic asset to secure future national competitiveness.

Sung-soo Kim (김성수), director-general of the ministry's R&D Policy Office, said the ministry would communicate closely with on-site experts to complete an executable roadmap and support domestic companies and researchers so they can compete on the global stage.

The ministry plans to supplement the AI humanoid mission roadmap by reflecting opinions raised at the meeting. The revised roadmap will be finalised and announced after consultations with relevant ministries and after being tabled next month as an agenda item at a meeting of science and technology-related ministers.