LG sets up robotics centre under CEO to boost expansion

LG Electronics has set up a Robotics Business Centre that will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Lyu Jae-cheol.

The move brings robotics closer to the top of the company's management structure as LG expands its activity in the sector.

The centre will combine business development, sales and operations in a single organisation. Its aim is to bring together the functions needed to commercialise robotics products and services, including supply chain and manufacturing.

Song Si-yong, who previously held senior roles at LG's Production Engineering Research Institute, will lead the new unit. LG is creating the business centre ahead of its usual annual restructuring cycle, signalling the importance it is placing on robotics.

Broader remit

LG is also widening its robotics portfolio across residential, commercial and industrial markets. The approach brings together home robots, industrial robotics through Robostar and commercial robotics through Bear Robotics.

The new business centre will support a three-part strategy across those segments. LG also plans to combine finished robot products with core parts such as actuators and with data operations to support commercial deployment.

A dedicated data factory organisation will sit within the new structure. It is intended to help collect operational data for robot training and support work on LG's Robot Foundation Model.

At the same time, LG is building a large-scale data factory at its Yangjae research and development campus in Seoul. The site is due to begin operations this year and is intended to support the company's work in next-generation robotics.

Group coordination

The reorganisation also aims to tighten governance across LG's robotics activity. The new structure is meant to improve decision-making and bring together expertise from across the wider group under the "One LG Solution" strategy.

That includes coordination with affiliates such as LG CNS and LG AI Research. The framework is also designed to support broader partnerships with global technology companies.

The changes reflect a growing focus among large industrial and technology groups on so-called physical AI, in which software models are applied to machines operating in real-world settings. For LG, the emphasis appears to be on linking hardware, data collection and internal research more closely as it seeks to move robotics from development into broader commercial use.

LG has identified the current year as the starting point for a wider expansion of its robotics business. It is also preparing domestic production of actuators, drawing on motor technology developed over more than six decades.

By placing the new robotics unit under the Chief Executive Officer, LG is giving the business direct access to senior decision-making as competition intensifies in factory automation, service robots and home robotics. Rivals in Asia, Europe and the United States are also investing in robotics hardware, software models and proprietary operational data.

LG said the self-contained structure should support strategy development, internal work on core technologies and cost competitiveness.