Artificial intelligence (AI), which had stayed in the digital world, is advancing as it is embedded in robots and devices to perceive physical space and make its own judgments. Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia, raised the concept of "physical AI" at CES 2025 earlier this year.
Physical AI is a core theme of CES 2026, the world's largest IT and home appliance trade show, to be held in Las Vegas from Jan. 6 to 9 (local time). The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which hosts CES, picked "Robotics" as one of the key trends for next year's event. It is evidence that in just one year after Huang's presentation, physical AI, which had been discussed conceptually, has entered the "commercialization stage." Observers say the center of gravity in AI development is shifting from conversational (chatbot) services to Robotics. Corporations in Korea are moving to deliver results in the global market by putting forward a "robot technology ecosystem" in line with this trend.
According to the industry on the 29th, the Humanoid M.AX (manufacturing AI transformation) Alliance will set up a joint pavilion at CES 2026 to showcase an industrial ecosystem spanning robot parts, platforms and AI. This body is a subcommittee of the "M.AX Alliance," launched in September under the lead of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, with about 1,300 corporations and institutions currently participating. About 250 industry-academia-research organizations related to Humanoid Robot, including LG Electronics, Doosan Robotics, Seoul National University, KAIST, the Korea Institute of Robot and Convergence, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, and the Korea Association of Robot Industry, belong to it. Through this alliance, the government has set a plan to mass-produce more than 1,000 humanoids annually by 2029.
At the joint exhibition hall organized by the Humanoid M.AX Alliance at CES 2026, 10 corporations will operate 20 booths. About 900 corporations from Korea are expected to take part in CES 2026, and this will be the only Korea pavilion themed on humanoids. Robot platform corporations such as AeiROBOT, Robros and ROBOTIS, along with humanoid AI developer Tomorrow Robotics, plan to showcase their technologies and products here. A differentiator is that "robot parts" companies like SBB TECH, Aidin Robotics, Tesollo and Faraday Dynamics will also participate in this booth. In the United States and China, exhibitions are centered on robot "finished products," while the Korea booth emphasized the organic connectivity of an ecosystem encompassing parts, platforms and AI.
Ryu Jae-wan, CEO of SBB TECH (general coordinator of the K-Humanoid Alliance), said, "In the era of physical AI, competitiveness is determined less by the performance of a single robot and more by how stably the drive system, control and AI are integrated in real industrial environments," adding, "CES 2026 will be the starting point for the Korea-style robot ecosystem to be evaluated as a complete competitive model in the global market."
AeiROBOT will demonstrate technology in which its robots "Alice 4" and "Alice M1" split processes and perform actions in sequence at this exhibition. ROBOTIS will show a robot "gripper" recognizing and sorting empty bottles placed at random. A demonstration will also be held of a stationary robot holding a brush and writing on a jar. Tomorrow Robotics will exhibit the Humanoid Robot "RB-V1." In an industrial conveyor environment, this robot can recognize targets and perform assigned tasks.
SBB TECH plans to exhibit various parts needed to drive such robots. It will present how the following are used in actual industrial fields: ▲ a "harmonic reducer," which adjusts a motor's rotations to increase the precision of robot joints ▲ a "small actuator," which operates on electrical signals and acts like a robot's muscles ▲ a "steering and eccentricity drive," which controls a robot's travel path and fine movements.
Large corporations such as LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor Group, Doosan Robotics and HL Group will also set up their own booths to showcase their "physical AI" capabilities. LG Electronics will unveil the home robot "LG Cloid," which reduces household chores, at CES 2026. The robot can delicately move five fingers to pick up various items at home. It can also interact, such as exchanging a fist bump with a person. An LG Electronics official said, "We attached two arms to the body and configured five fingers because it is a form well-suited to smoothly performing household chores in a living environment tailored to the human body," adding, "AI-based capabilities to autonomously perceive and learn the surrounding environment, as well as controlling various home appliances to match the resident's schedule and lifestyle, will show a role as an assistant that cares for customers."
Boston Dynamics, Hyundai Motor Group's robot development corporation, will demonstrate the Humanoid Robot "Atlas," equipped with 360-degree rotating joints, as well as the quadruped robot "Spot" and the mobility platform "MobED" at CES 2026. Doosan Robotics will present "Scan&Go," a robot that can analyze and refine or grind the surfaces of large and complex structures such as aircraft and buildings, while HL Group will broadly showcase the group's robot ecosystem technologies, including robot joint drive units and the logistics robot "CARRY."
According to market research firm Statista, the physical AI market grew from $5 billion (about 7.16 trillion won) in 2020 to $22.5 billion (about 32.22 trillion won) this year. It is projected to reach $64.3 billion (about 92.084 trillion won) in 2030. Morgan Stanley also analyzed that the global Humanoid Robot market could grow to about $5 trillion (about 7,160 trillion won) by 2050.
CTA reviews entries before CES each year and awards "Innovation Awards" to products with outstanding technology. The number of entries in the CES 2026 Innovation Awards' Robotics category increased 32% from this year. That is higher than the growth rate in AI entries (29%). Of the 15 winners in the Robotics category, eight are Korea corporations.