NC AI, the artificial intelligence arm of gaming giant NCSoft, announced the formation of a new consortium with leading South Korean tech firms and research institutions to spearhead the development of foundation models for physical AI.
This initiative, known as the K-Physical AI Alliance, was established to participate in a government-backed project overseen by the Institute for Information & Communication Technology Planning & Evaluation.
The consortium boasts a membership of 53 organizations, comprising 15 core research institutions and 38 demand-side partners. Notable participating companies include Samsung SDS, Hanwha Ocean, Rainbow Robotics, Real World, CMES, and FunctionBay.
The alliance’s primary goal is to tackle “physical hallucination,” a significant hurdle in generative AI where models struggle to adhere to real-world physical laws. To overcome this, the consortium plans to develop both a world foundation model and a robotics foundation model, designed to facilitate AI-driven control of robots and industrial equipment.
While global tech giants like Nvidia and Google are also actively exploring physical AI, the alliance emphasizes that a major challenge in this domain is the limited availability of high-quality data from actual manufacturing environments.
The consortium intends to leverage South Korea’s robust manufacturing base, encompassing sectors such as semiconductors, batteries, shipbuilding, and automobiles, along with the nation’s high robot density, to train models using real-world data generated from industrial sites.
Under a comprehensive, full-stack collaboration structure, NC AI will spearhead development by utilizing its large-scale simulation technologies and its 3D generative model, Varco 3D. Partner companies will contribute specialized technologies across the development chain: Rlwrld and CMES will concentrate on the robotics foundation model, while FunctionBay will develop physics-based simulation technologies, and Rainbow Robotics will provide dual-arm robotic platforms.
The developed models will undergo rigorous testing in operational environments provided by Samsung SDS, including manufacturing facilities, logistics centers, hotels, and airports. Field data will be continuously integrated back into the training process to enhance model performance and reliability.
“This consortium unites companies and research institutions to advance physical AI technologies by seamlessly connecting virtual environments with real-world operations,” stated Lee Yeon-soo, chief executive officer of NC AI. “We aim to establish a foundation for the next century of Korean industry by bridging the virtual and physical worlds through unrivaled AI technology.”
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