We will become a key player in the future humanoid robot market.
Circulus is a corporations specializing in humanoid robots. Chief Executive Park Jong-geon founded the company in Sep. 2016. Park, an engineer who previously worked at Samsung SDS, said Google DeepMind's Go AI "AlphaGo," which debuted in 2016, was the decisive background for the startup. Park said, "After seeing AlphaGo, I expected the AI and robot markets to grow," and added, "It has been about 10 years since I founded the company, and after ChatGPT, that outlook turned into conviction."
The company name Circulus is Latin for circle and means "a world made together, not alone." Park said, "We aim to develop robots that connect people to people in the world." Circulus has raised a cumulative 200 million won in investment. Revenue last year was 3.3 billion won.
Circulus' core product is the humanoid companion robot "Pibo." Pibo's functions are diverse. Basically, it recognizes and understands the user's face and expressions as well as surrounding objects and the environment, and engages in appropriate conversations. As a so-called "robot friend," it is used not only for child and senior care but also for AI literacy education for elementary, middle, and high school students. It also has functions such as delivering weather and news, playing music, and reading books.
Park said, "For parents with active children, Pibo can play music and dance together for fun," adding, "Pibo has a total of 36 functions, including schedule management and introducing trend information."
In its early days, Circulus directly developed and manufactured both robot hardware and software. However, it now focuses on software development in collaboration with capable hardware corporations. Park said, "Circulus' competitiveness lies in being able to do both hardware and software," adding, "We are currently focusing on developing the software that corresponds to the robot's head."
Circulus is currently collaborating with capable domestic robot hardware corporations. Park said, "We are developing a humanoid robot," adding, "We are working with a Korean corporations that is good at making robot hands and arms, and another Korean corporations with excellent robot lower-body manufacturing technology, while we are making the robot head."
Park also emphasized China's robot technology. Park said, "We cannot ignore China's robot technological prowess," adding, "We are also collaborating with competitive Chinese robot hardware corporations."
Park went on to say, "Some are concerned that data could leak to China, but we are developing the robot head, which is the core that controls the data, and we are thoroughly building a security system." Park added, "Chinese robots cannot enter the U.S. market," and said, "We plan to advance into overseas markets by collaborating with corporations in various countries," adding, "Next year we plan to make a full-scale entry into markets such as the United States and Europe, which have demand for care labor due to education and aging, as well as China."