Chief Executive Officer Lyu Jae-cheol of LG Electronics emphasized that the competitiveness of the home appliance business using artificial intelligence (AI) depends on how much it reduces customers' household burdens, going beyond simple device consolidation. He presented "care," which supports daily life by linking appliances, home spaces, and services, as the next step for the AI home, and laid out a plan to expand the related ecosystem through cooperation with global companies such as Apple.
On the 2nd, Lyu posted an article on his LinkedIn titled "From consolidation to care: the next standard for the AI home," saying, "Just because you can control more individual products does not necessarily make running a household easier," and stated accordingly.
Lyu explained that while appliances such as washing machines once helped reduce housework, since the early 2010s remote control became possible through Wi-Fi and smartphone applications. However, he noted that as consolidated devices increase, the apps, settings, and notifications users must manage also grow.
He said, "The AI home is not about merely adding AI functions to consolidated devices but about changing how the home operates," and emphasized, "Devices must work together to match people's needs, reducing the need for individual instructions and adjustments."
A representative example goes beyond starting laundry remotely to having devices operate so that washing and drying finish at the time the user wants. Heating, cooling, and lighting are adjusted to the expected homecoming time, and if the schedule changes, the operating times of related devices change as well. Instead of the user manipulating each appliance, multiple devices move in sync with a single daily schedule.
Lyu said this direction is the core of LG Electronics' "Zero Labor Home" vision. The goal is to reduce not only repetitive housework but also the time and effort needed to manage consolidated devices.
He also emphasized that even if the AI home's level of automation increases, final decisions must remain with customers. Lyu said, "People should be able to see what their home is doing and be able to change or stop its operation," and added, "They should also be able to decide for themselves when their approval is required." He continued, "Convenience should not come at the cost of control or trust," and said, "Zero Labor Home does not mean a house where machines make every decision. We will reduce the burden of repetitive housework and device management while leaving important decisions in customers' hands."
He also presented ongoing post-purchase management as a key competitive edge of the AI home. LG Electronics runs "ThinQ UP," which adds new functions to appliances through software updates, and "ThinQ Care," which detects abnormal signs in products and guides appropriate measures. It also applies the security framework "LG Shield," which supports data protection and threat detection and response throughout the product's usage period.
Lyu said, "The more work the home takes on, the greater our responsibility," adding that product management and security support must continue after purchase.
He also noted the need for cooperation among corporations to build the AI home ecosystem. In a single household, products from various brands—appliances, heating and cooling, lighting, security, and energy management—coexist, making it difficult for a specific company to provide all technologies and services.
Lyu said, "No single company can provide all the capabilities needed for a complete AI home experience," and added, "The competitiveness of corporations depends on how effectively they combine their complementary strengths to create experiences that an individual company would struggle to deliver alone."
LG Electronics acquired the Dutch company Athom, which owns the open smart home platform "Homey," and has expanded its foundation for consolidation with other companies' products and services by opening the application programming interface (API) of its smart home platform ThinQ to the outside.
More recently, it expanded the scope of collaboration by co-developing seven smart home devices with Apple. On Sept. 13, the two companies unveiled a smart home lineup consisting of indoor and outdoor cameras, a video doorbell, a smart door lock, a thermostat, and temperature sensors. The key point is that, beyond simply ensuring compatibility between products, they designed the hardware, software, and user experience together from the early stages of development.
Lyu said, "The recent collaboration with Apple shows how this strategy can lead to new experiences," and explained, "We designed it to provide customers with a more intuitive and consistent experience by combining LG Electronics' understanding of products and living spaces with Apple's platform expertise." He added, "The value of a partnership lies in the experiences corporations create together," and said, "We will continue to collaborate in areas where the capabilities of global partners can add meaningful value."
He also set a direction to expand the AI home business into physical AI fields such as robotics. Physical AI is a technology that not only analyzes information or answers questions but also enables actual devices and systems to respond to their surroundings and perform physical tasks.
Lyu said, "The AI home is one of the areas where physical AI capabilities can become part of everyday life," and added, "We are applying this technology to other areas, including robots." He continued, "The advancement of the AI home should be evaluated not only by how sophisticated the technology becomes but also by how much time and effort it saves people," and added, "We will reduce the burden of repetitive housework and managing consolidated devices so that customers can use their time more freely."
