Samsung SDS (018260) will launch a robot orchestration platform next year after assembling a "dream team" of robotics companies from South Korea, the U.S. and China. The plan is to build a control system for heterogeneous robots that runs various types of machines, including the humanoid robot Samsung Electronics (005930) is developing, within a single system. Samsung Group is expanding from robot hardware into control platforms as it moves to secure leadership in the physical AI market.
Samsung SDS formalized its entry into the robot transformation (RX) business at REAL SUMMIT 2026, an enterprise AX conference held on the 8th at COEX in Seoul. "To implement RX, it is essential to continuously improve robots' work capabilities on site and raise quality to the human level," Samsung SDS CEO Lee Jun-hee said. "Next year we plan to unveil a robot orchestration platform that connects production facilities and robots into a single operation."
The platform assigns and distributes tasks across different types of robots — humanoids, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and collaborative robots — and manages their operating status in an integrated way. It will first target some 1,000 worksites held by major affiliates including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Heavy Industries (010140) and Samsung E&A (028050). The company then plans to widen the scope to about 430 outside firms that use Samsung SDS's manufacturing execution system (MES). The U.S. market, where a manufacturing revival is under way, is another key target.
To that end, Samsung SDS has also formed a robotics partnership called Team REX (Robotics EXcellence). Ten companies are taking part: AI Robot, Genesis AI, Holiday Robotics, Rainbow Robotics and Wuji Technology in robot hardware; Real World, RoboForce and Walden Robotics in intelligence; ConfigIntelligence in data; and NDot Light in simulation. The idea is to join hands with firms holding distinctive technology in each area, design the optimal robot mix for each manufacturing process, and take on operation and maintenance. The strategic partnership with Wuji Technology, a Chinese firm with strong robot hand and end-effector technology that is indispensable in manufacturing processes, follows the same logic.
Walden Robotics, founded in January this year by researchers formerly with the Toyota Research Institute, is also counted as a core Team REX partner. Samsung SDS made a strategic investment in Walden Robotics through Samsung Venture Investment in June. Walden Robotics had been working with Rainbow Robotics, a Samsung Electronics subsidiary, even before receiving Samsung's investment, according to sources. "Walden Robotics has already deployed robots at Toyota's North American plants, where they carry out actual production processes," a Samsung SDS official said. "It is a company that fits well with Samsung SDS's direction of pursuing RX on manufacturing floors."
The industry views Samsung SDS's move into RX as fitting a key piece into Samsung Group's robot business. Samsung Electronics has placed a robotics business office directly under Roh Tae-moon, head of its Device eXperience (DX) division, and is accelerating development with the goal of unveiling its own humanoid robot at CES 2027, the world's largest electronics and IT show, in the U.S. in January next year.
Rainbow Robotics is already building commercial experience, selling mobile dual-arm robots and collaborative robots. Samsung Electro-Mechanics (009150) has camera module capabilities that serve as a robot's "eyes," while Samsung SDI (006400) holds battery technology that acts as its "heart." Much of the base for manufacturing robot bodies and core components is thus in place within Samsung Group. If Samsung SDS delivers its robot orchestration platform next year, the group will also complete the "command structure" that connects and runs different robots and production equipment on actual manufacturing floors.
Samsung SDS's investment in robotics is expected to pick up pace as well. The company has drawn up a plan to invest a total of 10 trillion won by 2031, drawing on 1.2 trillion won in new funds secured through cooperation with KKR and 6.6 trillion won in cash and cash equivalents. "We are reviewing strategic investment directions related to AX technology, and in the RX area we are also considering equity investments related to robot foundation models," the CEO said. "In logistics, there will also be investment and strategy to strengthen air freight."
Separately, Samsung SDS said it is joining OpenAI's Daybreak Partner Program as a pilot partner, the first Korean company to do so. Daybreak is a program that uses OpenAI's frontier models to automate the entire security process, from finding vulnerabilities and verifying their real-world impact to prioritizing risks and generating and testing security patches. With Anthropic, the two companies will jointly identify new AX businesses combining their technology and business expertise.
