NC AI Forms ‘K-Physical AI Alliance’ Consortium with Samsung SDS

Participating in government-sponsored WFM/RFM development projects

Including researchers from major universities and local governments in the four major regions

NC AI announced on the 11th that it has formed the ‘K-Physical AI Alliance’ consortium to carry out the ‘Development of World Foundation Model Technology for Physical AI Model Learning’ project hosted by the National IT Planning and Evaluation Institute.

The consortium, in which a total of 53 organizations participate, aims to develop the ‘World Foundation Model (WFM)’ and ‘Robotics Foundation Model (RFM)’ that enable robots to understand and act in the real world. Centered around NC AI’s world model, Real World (RLWRLD), CMES’ Robot Foundation model, Function Bay’s simulation technology, Rainbow Robotics’ robotics technology, and Samsung SDS’ field infrastructure were combined.

The consortium plans to use the vast data generated from domestic manufacturing sites to learn the consortium’s AI model and simulator, making Korean-style physical AI the brain of a skilled robot. Through this, the plan is to enter the global market with an independent AI solution.

Based on the 3D creation model ‘Barco 3D’, NC AI plans to utilize reinforcement learning know-how that learned AI by interacting with millions of users in a multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) environment such as Lineage and Aion 2. Research teams from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Seoul National University, Korea University, and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) will also participate in the consortium and jointly conduct technological research.

In addition, major domestic conglomerates such as Samsung SDS, Lotte Novate, POSCO DX, and Hanwha Ocean joined the consortium in the hope that it will solve the difficult problems that arise in each company’s manufacturing and logistics sites. Local governments in the country’s four largest regions, including Jeonbuk, Gyeongnam, Gwangju, and Daegu, also participated in this consortium as demand organizations to solve the problem of manpower shortage in key regional industries and use it as a key driving force to drive manufacturing innovation. Upstage, which worked with NC AI as an elite team for the independent AI foundation model, also submitted a letter of intent to the consortium, expressing its desire to cooperate in physical AI and world models.

Lee Yeon-soo, CEO of NC AI, said, “This consortium is an unprecedented coalition that breaks down the boundaries of company size, region, and industry and gathers for the single goal of becoming ‘No. 1 in the world of physical AI.’” He added, “In response to the overwhelming technological capabilities of the participating companies and the enthusiastic expectations of the industry, we will lay the foundation for opening a new 100 years of Korean industry with unrivaled AI technology that connects virtuality and reality.”