Samsung Electronics has taken its most decisive step yet into humanoid and physical AI, announcing on July 21 the creation of a dedicated Samsung Robotics eXperience (RX) division reporting directly to CEO TM Roh. The unit will consolidate Samsung's fragmented robotics efforts into a single control tower and commercialise humanoid platforms across manufacturing, logistics and home services.
A Poached Hyundai Exec Runs Point
The RX strategy will be led by Executive Vice President Lee Dongkun, who joined Samsung in May from Hyundai Motor Group, where he oversaw robotics strategy including Boston Dynamics. His arrival cements a widening talent war between Korea's two chaebol robotics programs, one Samsung Electronics analysts read as an implicit acknowledgement that Samsung fell behind Hyundai after the latter's $325M full buyout of Boston Dynamics.
60 Trillion Won For Physical AI
The division's establishment coincides with Samsung's plan to invest roughly 60 trillion won ($40.7 billion) in the Yeongnam region, of which 19 trillion won is earmarked for a Gumi complex dedicated to physical AI infrastructure and humanoid manufacturing. Samsung's Seoul R&D Campus in Umyeon-dong becomes RX's global HQ, with satellite research outposts planned in the U.S., China and Japan.
Building A Third Pole In Humanoids
The RX launch positions Samsung to challenge U.S. leaders like Figure and Apptronik, along with Chinese rivals emerging from WAIC 2026, and mirrors the industrial-scale bet Korea just made with its $880B AI-chip push. Samsung shares jumped more than 5% on the announcement as investors digested a company signalling that physical AI — not smartphones — is its next long-term growth engine.
Reporting based on coverage from CNBC, Reuters, Engadget, SEDaily and Samsung Electronics.