Chief Executive Min Sang-yun of SolutionLink said, "Physical artificial intelligence (AI) can change the entire supply chain on Earth," adding, "Right now is the golden time to seize the market with a 'standard.'"
Min stated accordingly in a lecture on "International standardization trends and the current state at home" at the "2025 advanced industry standard leadership forum" held on Dec. 12 at the Hanyang Institute of Technology (HIT) in Seongdong District, Seoul.
SolutionLink is a software engineering company composed of master's and doctoral graduates from the KAIST software engineering laboratory. It was the first in Korea to launch services in software safety engineering and functional safety for automotive electronic systems.
Min said, "At present, no matter what physical AI is developed, explosive commercialization is impossible because there are no relevant standards," diagnosing that "the absence of standards is holding back industrial development."
According to Min, there are currently a total of 87 international standards related to robots and AI: 43 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and 44 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). However, Min said none of them can be used as standards for physical AI.
Min said, "The standards created by SC42 (the AI international standardization committee jointly established by ISO/IEC) were led by quality control experts. They do not know how humanoids and physical AI interact, nor specifically how to test them." The existing standards focus on areas unrelated to technical implementation, such as AI management, ethics, and education safety, which means there are no technical standards to validate and commercialize physical AI in the field.
Min cited "real-time learning" and "environmental adaptability" as the differences between physical AI and existing manufacturing robots. Min explained, "A programmed robot can be tested by looking at the code, but an AI that learns on its own cannot have test cases created by an engineer."
Min added, "Physical AI has the ability to help the United States, whose manufacturing declined as it offshored production, regain manufacturing competitiveness," noting, "There is no longer any need to manufacture only in Southeast Asia. With robots, it is fully possible in Korea as well." This means the entire supply chain of the global economic system could change.
Min pointed to Nvidia's open-sourcing of a physical AI foundation model as an example, emphasizing that the standards race has already begun. Min said, "Open-sourcing is a declaration to dominate the market with a de facto standard," adding, "The United States is also busy with the standards competition."
Min advised that Korea should pursue differentiated standards strategies by sector. Min said, "In manufacturing, a preemption strategy is needed, and in areas like autonomous driving, a defensive strategy is necessary," adding, "If we do not participate in standardization work right now, we will miss the opportunity."