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[Why Korea 31] Why Did Samsung and Hyundai Bet on Robot Companies?

Two humanoid robots in a high-tech factory, one holding a chip and one working on a car assembly line, with a city skyline in the background — Why Korea: Two Giants, Two Bets

Follow Korea's robotics story far enough and you end up standing in front of two companies.

Samsung and Hyundai Motor Group.

Over the past few years, both of Korea's flagship conglomerates have taken robotics companies under their wing. But they picked different partners — and different methods.

Faced with the same question, they landed on two different answers.

If a future is coming where robots genuinely work alongside people, what should we be preparing for?

Samsung's Choice — Rainbow Robotics

Let's return to Rainbow Robotics, the company that made a brief appearance in the last piece.

It was founded in 2011 by Professor Jun-Ho Oh — the man behind HUBO — and his KAIST HUBO Lab research team. The company listed on Korea's KOSDAQ in 2021. Its real connection to Samsung began in 2023.

That year, Samsung Electronics invested a total of roughly 86.8 billion won to secure a 14.7% stake in Rainbow Robotics — and, alongside it, a call option that could make Samsung the largest shareholder down the road.

Samsung exercised that option at the end of 2024. Its stake jumped to 35%, making it Rainbow Robotics' largest shareholder. The company was folded into Samsung Electronics' consolidated financial statements as a subsidiary. Professor Oh stepped down from Rainbow Robotics and took on a new role as an advisor to Samsung Electronics and head of its newly created Future Robotics Task Force.

Samsung has also said it plans to combine Rainbow Robotics' hardware with its own AI and software capabilities.

A decade-plus after it started with HUBO, one research team's technology has landed squarely inside the future robotics strategy of Korea's largest electronics company.

Hyundai's Choice — Boston Dynamics

Hyundai Motor Group picked a different kind of company: Boston Dynamics, in the United States.

This is the company that became globally famous for robots that walk on two legs, run, clear obstacles, and recover their balance even when someone shoves them.

In late 2020, Hyundai Motor Group signed a deal with SoftBank to acquire Boston Dynamics. Once the deal closed in 2021, the Hyundai side held roughly an 80% stake. Boston Dynamics was valued at about $1.1 billion at the time.

The stake was split across Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Mobis, and Hyundai Glovis — and Chairman Euisun Chung himself also invested personally.

What matters more is what came after the acquisition.

Boston Dynamics' new electric humanoid, Atlas, already has its first major destination lined up: an auto factory.

Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy Atlas starting in 2028 at its Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia, beginning with sequencing parts in the correct order. If the technology proves itself, the scope could expand to parts assembly by 2030.

That's where the logic of a car company buying a robotics company gets a little clearer. It's not just about building cars — it's about changing how cars get built in the first place.

As of 2026, Hyundai Motor Group is also pursuing the acquisition of SoftBank's remaining stake in Boston Dynamics. The deal hasn't closed yet, but the direction is clear: pulling the robotics business further inside the group.

Did They Really Just Buy "Robot Companies"?

Which raises a question.

Did Samsung and Hyundai really acquire nothing more than companies that build human-shaped machines?

A robotics company comes bundled with design and control engineering, movement data, engineers, and — critically — the accumulated experience of actually having built robots before.

And once humanoids start working inside factories, they keep generating data as they go: what they grabbed and how, where they made mistakes, how they moved through a shared space with people.

Hyundai Motor Group has built this into its stated strategy — using data collected from real factory floors to keep retraining the robots. A robot works, generates data, and gets better from that data, in a loop.

Samsung is aiming for something similar, trying to connect Rainbow Robotics' technology to its own manufacturing and logistics operations.

So what both companies really acquired looks less like "a robot company" and more like a bundle of technology and experience for training and validating robots in the real world.

This is also where the industry term "Physical AI" keeps coming up these days.

But that's a big enough topic to deserve its own piece.

For now, let's leave it here.

Same Question, Different Choices

Set the two companies side by side, and the difference comes into focus.

Samsung invested in Rainbow Robotics first, then deepened the relationship over time, gradually pulling the technology inside the company.

Hyundai Motor Group took control of an already globally proven company in Boston Dynamics, and is now connecting it to its own manufacturing floors.

They started from different places. But where they're both heading has something in common: not stopping at showing off a robot, but actually putting it to work.

Of course, Korea's robotics industry isn't just a story about these two companies. Doosan Robotics is building out collaborative robots. Naver Labs is working on robots and spatial infrastructure. LG Electronics is developing service robots. Each is moving in a different direction.

Still, there's a clear reason Samsung and Hyundai stand out on the question of humanoids specifically: they're not just companies with money to buy the technology. They're companies with massive real-world operations where that technology can actually go to work.

Of course, this comes with an uncomfortable question attached.

If robots take on more of the work, doesn't that mean less work for people?

One reason humanoids are heading into factories is to take over tasks that are difficult, repetitive, or dangerous for humans. But as automation expands, some jobs shrink — and the odds rise that different kinds of jobs get created in their place.

So the humanoid race isn't just a question of how smart robots have gotten.

It's also a question of how work itself gets redivided between people and robots.

So, Why Korea?

Korea has long been a country that uses a lot of robots.

But most of them never looked anything like a person. They were arms — welding, moving things, assembling parts.

Now, Samsung has taken in HUBO's successor. Hyundai is bringing Atlas into its own factories.

From here, the interesting part gets a lot less glamorous than a flashy demo video. Showing up every day. Repeating the same task. Getting fixed when something breaks. Working safely next to a person. And, above all, being cheap enough to make sense.

Only once a robot clears that bar does it actually become an industry.

Fifty years ago, the robot Koreans imagined was Taekwon V, bursting out from under the National Assembly's roof.

Reality looks a little different.

The first real humanoids probably won't wear capes or fight villains. They'll more likely show up for a shift and start by carrying parts around.

Still — we've come this far.

Which leaves me with a slightly different question now.

Will I live to see Taekwon V?

Curious about Korea?

So am I.

Key Takeaways

  • In 2023, Samsung Electronics invested a total of roughly 86.8 billion won to acquire a 14.7% stake in Rainbow Robotics, then exercised a call option at the end of 2024 to raise its stake to 35%, becoming the company's largest shareholder.
  • Rainbow Robotics co-founder Professor Jun-Ho Oh stepped down from the company and became an advisor to Samsung Electronics and head of its newly formed Future Robotics Task Force.
  • Hyundai Motor Group acquired control of Boston Dynamics, ending up with roughly an 80% stake after the deal closed; Chairman Euisun Chung also invested personally.
  • Hyundai Motor Group plans to deploy Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid at its Metaplant America (HMGMA) starting with parts sequencing in 2028, potentially expanding to parts assembly by 2030 if the technology proves out.
  • As of 2026, Hyundai Motor Group is pursuing the acquisition of SoftBank's remaining stake in Boston Dynamics.
  • Despite different methods, both companies share a common goal: connecting robotics technology to real manufacturing operations rather than stopping at demonstrations.

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