LG Electronics to Develop ‘AI Chips for Robots’ with Korean Fabless Companies
The initiative, part of the ‘K On-Device Semiconductor Project’, receives government backing to develop world-class AI chips by 2030, targeting defense, home appliances, and humanoid sectors
LG Electronics will form a technology alliance with leading domestic on-device artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor companies to simultaneously develop multiple semiconductor chips for robots. This initiative aims to regain market leadership in the robot vacuum cleaner sector, where the company has lost ground to Chinese competitors, while preemptively securing hardware competitiveness in the household humanoid market, which is set to become the new battleground for the next-generation home appliance industry.
According to industry sources on Nov. 19, LG Electronics plans to form consortiums with domestic AI semiconductor fabless companies in two sectors—robotics and home appliances—under the ‘K On-Device Semiconductor Project’ led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. This project involves the government providing a total of 1 trillion won in support to develop world-class on-device AI chips by 2030 in sectors including defense, home appliances, and humanoids.
LG Electronics is pursuing consortium formation with three companies, including Movilin and HyperAccel. The company will develop at least three AI chips for home appliances and Internet of Things (IoT) applications, one with each partner company. These chips will be installed in ‘AI home appliances,’ which have become the key battleground in the global home appliance market, supporting advanced functions tailored to individual users and real-time environments.
Particularly within LG Electronics, the new AI chips for home appliances are viewed as weapons to enhance robot vacuum cleaner competitiveness. While domestic companies have maintained their premium status in traditional white goods such as refrigerators, washing machines, and TVs despite fierce challenges from Chinese competitors, the situation is completely opposite for robot vacuum cleaners. Roborock, China’s leading robot vacuum cleaner company, holds 21.8% of the global market share in the first half of the year, ranking first worldwide, and has also surpassed Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to claim the top position in the domestic market.
In the humanoid sector, LG Electronics is reportedly partnering with Movilin. Humanoid chips must stably operate robot foundation models that control robot movements in the real world and process more types of data in real-time than general home appliances, requiring higher performance than home appliance chips. Initially, the company planned to form consortiums only in the home appliance sector, but after discussions, it determined that semiconductors for humanoids, where global competition is fierce, are also an urgent priority.
LG Electronics has internalized semiconductor development capabilities for over 30 years. The System-on-Chip (SoC) Center, formerly the ASIC Center established in 1992, currently leads home appliance semiconductor development, and last year the company developed the on-device AI chip ‘DQ-C,’ which has been installed in various home appliances. Nevertheless, LG Electronics’ alliance with domestic AI semiconductor companies stems from the urgency that it cannot fall behind in a situation where competitors are also dedicating full efforts to technology advancement through strategic alliances with other companies.
출처 : Businesskorea(https://www.businesskorea.co.kr)
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LG Electronics to Develop ‘AI Chips for Robots’ with Korean Fabless Companies, source
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