Lee June-hee, the Samsung SDS chief executive, said funds secured from the global investment corporations KKR will be used for new investments in artificial intelligence (AI), Robotics, and logistics. The plan is to invest about 10 trillion won through 2031 in AI-centered robot transformation (RX) and logistics for strategic investments and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to secure growth engines.
At a press briefing for Real Summit 2026 held at the COEX Convention Center in Seoul on the 8th, the chief executive said, "We are reviewing the strategic investment direction related to AI transformation (AX), and in the Robotics field we are reviewing equity investments related to the robot foundation model (RFM)." Of the 10 trillion won investment plan released in Apr., the strategy is to pursue strategic investments and M&A in parallel in addition to expanding AI infrastructure such as existing data centers and graphics processing units (GPUs).
Earlier, Samsung SDS said at its second-quarter earnings conference call that it will invest a total of 10 trillion won through 2031 to strengthen AI full-stack capabilities, based on 1.2 trillion won secured from KKR and 6.6 trillion won in cash-like asset.
Regarding the 10 trillion won investment plan, the chief executive said, "We are reviewing strategic investments with a focus on three areas: AX, RX, and logistics," adding, "We will present results as soon as possible and expect to recover our investments quickly." The executive added that the company is establishing an investment strategy to strengthen air logistics.
That day, Samsung SDS announced its entry into the robot business and said it will introduce a "robot orchestration platform" next year as part of its robot transformation (RX) strategy to connect and operate robots and factory production equipment as one. Robot orchestration refers to technology that integrates and controls robots from different manufacturers in a factory with a single software system.
For the robot business, the company will first target manufacturing affiliates of Samsung Group. Ahn Dae-jung, vice president in charge of the Digital Factory at Samsung SDS, said, "The number of production lines we have built for Samsung manufacturing affiliates exceeds 1,000," adding, "There are still many production lines that rely on manual work, so the first step will be to automate these with general-purpose robots."
The company also plans to meet demand for automation transitions among more than 430 external manufacturing clients for which Samsung SDS has built manufacturing execution systems (MES). Vice President Ahn said, "Among these clients, we will first focus on RX demand aimed at replacing hazardous tasks or manual work, and in the mid to long term we will also pursue a global strategy targeting the U.S. market, which is carrying out manufacturing reshoring (relocation of production facilities to the home country; reshoring) for the first time in 45 years."
To strengthen competitiveness in the robot business, the company is also pushing cooperation with corporations in China and the United States. Vice President Ahn said, "China excels in Robotics hardware, particularly in hand and end effector technologies, which correspond to a robot's hands," adding, "We have formed a strategic partnership with China's Wuzhi Hand, a world-class robot hand company."
On domestic robot technology, the executive said, "Domestic corporations lag U.S. or Chinese corporations in body hardware technology, which corresponds to a robot's body, but they have strengths in areas related to model training data and simulation," adding, "Domestic corporations also have strengths in technology that 'tunes' robot hardware integrated on manufacturing lines to verify performance and deliver human-level results and quality."
The executive added, "Samsung SDS will focus on growing the RX business around partnerships with corporations in Korea, China, and the United States." In fact, Samsung SDS has formed the "Team REX" Robotics partnership to standardize interoperation among different robots. Participants include Walden Robotics, a Humanoid Robot specialist founded by researchers from Toyota Research Institute, Rainbow Robotics, AeiROBOT, NdotLight, and 10 corporations in total.
Lee June-hee said, "Robot technology itself is similar to people, so for a factory to run well, it is important to organize workflows when multiple robots are gathered and ensure strong cooperation among robots," adding that the "robot orchestration platform" being prepared for release next year will take on this role.
The robot orchestration platform designs optimal routes so heterogeneous robots with different functions—such as packaging, assembly, and cargo transport—in factories do not collide, and serves as a "central control system dedicated to robots" that detects in real time if a specific robot breaks down and issues detour instructions to other robots so the entire factory does not stop.
The chief executive said, "We will actively support innovation for manufacturing clients by combining 25 years of accumulated manufacturing expertise and robot orchestration technology with world-class physical AI robot technology."