The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Ministry of Science and ICT will work together to spread physical AI technology to small and midsize manufacturing sites.
On the 7th, the two ministries visited the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) physical AI demonstration lab and held a corporations roundtable with physical AI technology suppliers and manufacturing-site demand corporations. Rainbow Robotics, Persona AI, Peblus, Impix, Baekje Food, and New Hitech took part.
This event was prepared to build a cooperative system that connects the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS)'s smart manufacturing innovation support policy with the Ministry of Science and ICT's physical AI technology development and demonstration capabilities, linking technology development to on-site application and broader adoption.
As a flagship cooperation project, the two ministries plan to link the Ministry of Science and ICT's "Everyone's AI Factory Manager" with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS)'s "smart manufacturing innovation" to support the adoption of physical AI by small and midsize manufacturing corporations.
The Ministry of Science and ICT will support the autonomy of logistics and production processes based on a physical AI full-stack solution secured through demonstrations in North Jeolla and South Gyeongsang. This year, it will begin consulting on individual logistics segments such as autonomous mobile robots (AMR) and automated guided vehicles (AGV), and will gradually expand services to entire logistics and production processes.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will support building related manufacturing environments and demonstrations so that physical AI technology can be applied to actual manufacturing sites. In particular, it will prepare a specialized support program linking "Everyone's AI Factory Manager" with smart factory construction, and plans to spread outstanding demonstration results through the "Manufacturing AI 24" platform to be built in the future.
The two ministries also plan to secure competitiveness in physical AI by promoting joint research and development (R&D) not only in manufacturing but also in new growth areas such as security, pharmaceuticals and bio, Climate Tech, and K-consumer goods.
In addition, within the physical AI alliance, they will form a task force (TF) specialized for small and midsize manufacturing corporations to identify on-site demand and support linkage between technology-supplying corporations and demand corporations. At the roundtable, corporations proposed building a cooperation platform for consolidation between demand and supply corporations, along with data infrastructure, training of professionals, and advancement of support policies.
Noh Yong-seok, first vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "Building a proven leading model is essential for small and midsize manufacturing corporations to adopt physical AI technology quickly," adding, "We will concentrate policy capabilities so that the outcomes of mega projects, including physical AI, can spread to small and midsize business sites."
Ryu Je-myeong, second vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, noted, "It is important not to stop at excellent technology development but to build a virtuous cycle that connects it to manufacturing-site demand, leading to demonstrations and diffusion," and said, "We will pool the capabilities of relevant ministries, industry, academia, and research to actively support on-site application of domestic physical AI technology."