Insider Brief
- LG is developing a humanoid robot using Nvidia’s Isaac GR00T foundation model, with a public unveiling planned for the first quarter of next year.
- The companies’ expanded physical AI collaboration also covers factory robotics, robot data infrastructure and AI factories, including plans to test LG’s CLOiD wheel-based robots at a Tennessee washing machine plant.
- LG’s humanoid will use Nvidia Jetson Thor, Isaac GR00T and Halos for Robotics, while drawing on “One LG” capabilities across LG Electronics, LG Innotek and LG Energy Solution for components including actuators, sensors and batteries.
LG announced it is developing a humanoid robot using Nvidia’s Isaac GR00T foundation model, with a public unveiling planned for the first quarter of next year.
LG and Nvidia signed a memorandum of understanding Aug. 13 at Nvidia’s headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., to expand physical AI collaboration between the two companies that along witth the humanoid robot includes factory robotics, AI factories and automotive computing, according to LG.
“As our discussions have moved fast, our tasks and goals in AI factory and physical AI have become clear,” LG Group chairman and CEO Kwang Mo Koo said in the announcement. “We will accelerate the spread of AI by building industry-leading references.”
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang pointed to the companies’ years of collaboration and with LG’s product engineering and manufacturing capabilities and Nvidia’s technology, the next era of physical AI is on the horizon.
“The defining opportunity of physical AI is to give every machine the ability to understand the real world, reason and act safely alongside people — reshaping everyday life from the home and factory floor to the road,” Huang said.
Humanoids and Factory Robots
LG’s humanoid will use Nvidia Jetson Thor for onboard computing, reasoning and control. It will also use Isaac GR00T, Nvidia’s open humanoid foundation model, and Nvidia Halos for Robotics, a safety framework for robotic systems.
LG said it will draw on technology across groups including LG Electronics, LG Innotek and LG Energy Solution and its “One LG” platform for components such as actuators, sensors and batteries.
The company did not disclose the humanoid’s target applications, production schedule or commercial availability.
Beyond the humanoid project, LG plans to put its CLOiD wheel-based robots into an LG Electronics washing machine factory in Tennessee later this year. The deployment will be used to test the robots in an operating manufacturing environment. LG said it will use the results to refine performance before considering broader deployments across factories, homes and commercial settings.
LG and Nvidia are also working on infrastructure to collect and use robotics data. That effort will center on LG CNS’s PhysicalWorks platform, which is being developed to support on-site collection of robot data, synthetic data generation, model training and verification.
The data could also feed LG’s own Robot Foundation Model, which remains under development. LG said it plans to continue using Isaac GR00T while building its internal robotics models.
LG noted the companies will form a joint technical and business task force covering research, site testing and commercialization.
AI Factory and Mobility Work
The agreement extends beyond robotics as LG plans to use Nvidia’s DSX AI factory architecture in combination with its own data-center capabilities, including power, cooling, design and operations.
The company indicated it plans to build a reference AI factory using Nvidia’s Vera Rubin platform in the first half of 2027, followed by an 80-megawatt AI factory in Cheonan, South Korea, by the first half of 2028. LG said those facilities will support physical AI and robot foundation model development.
LG is also developing a next-generation vehicle computing platform using Nvidia DRIVE Hyperion.
The system is intended to combine Nvidia’s autonomous-driving and computing technology with LG’s infotainment and automotive software. LG said the effort is part of the expansion of its automotive business beyond in-vehicle infotainment into autonomous-driving and AI-based vehicle systems.
Featured image: LG Corp. Chairman and CEO Kwang Mo Koo (right) and NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang (left) shake hands at NVIDIA’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California, on Aug. 13th. The miniature humanoid robot presented by LG bears the autographs of LG Corp. Chairman and CEO Kwang Mo Koo and NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang. (Credit: LG)
