Samsung Electronics is making a major push into humanoid robotics, expanding its research workforce by 63% and nearly doubling R&D spending in just one year. The South Korean tech giant established a new robotics business unit reporting directly to its Device eXperience Division head, signaling that humanoids are now a core strategic priority alongside smartphones and semiconductors.

Why Is Samsung Suddenly Investing So Heavily in Humanoid Robots?

Samsung's robotics subsidiary, Rainbow Robotics, added approximately 40 new R&D employees over the past year, bringing its total research staff to 114 people as of June 2026. The company's first-half R&D spending jumped to 6.37 billion won, roughly $4.6 million, up 64% from $2.8 million in the same period the previous year. This acceleration reflects Samsung's determination to compete in what many analysts believe will be a trillion-dollar market for physical AI and humanoid robots.

The company's strategy centers on building humanoid robots capable of performing precise industrial tasks that fixed robots and mobile platforms cannot handle. By internalizing key technologies rather than relying on external suppliers, Samsung aims to reduce costs and accelerate the path to mass production. The company also plans to fill software capability gaps through strategic acquisitions of overseas robot AI startups, recognizing that hardware alone cannot power the next generation of autonomous machines.

What Are Samsung's Key Technical Priorities?

Samsung Electronics established the "RX Business Promotion Office" last month, placing it under direct oversight of Roh Tae-moon, CEO and head of the Device eXperience Division. This new unit consolidates company-wide robotics capabilities and oversees everything from mid-term strategy to core technology development and commercialization. The reorganization reflects Samsung's commitment to making robotics a central pillar of its future business portfolio.

The company is recruiting experienced foreign R&D personnel across several critical areas:

• Robotic Hands: Samsung considers precise manipulation capability essential for humanoids to perform diverse tasks like humans, making robotic hands a key technology that will determine commercialization success.
• Actuators and Drive Components: Rainbow Robotics is developing quasi-direct drive (QDD) actuators, the core joint components that enable humanoids to walk and run while absorbing impact, with plans to produce these components in-house rather than sourcing externally.
• Vision and Sensing: The company is securing talent in vision-based 3D recognition, robot motors, industrial motion technology, and data collection for robot learning in manufacturing environments.

By internalizing the design and production of core drive components, Samsung can lower procurement costs and enhance mass-production competitiveness. The company is also validating robot technology in manufacturing sites before gradually expanding applications to other industries.

What Technical Challenges Still Stand in the Way?

Despite Samsung's aggressive investment, significant technical hurdles remain before humanoids can operate reliably in real-world conditions. Dr. Jung Dong-hwi of Samsung Electronics, speaking at the Physical AI Forum 2026 held at Seoul National University on August 25, highlighted several critical obstacles that distinguish humanoids from existing mobile robots.

"Due to limited sensors and a low center of gravity, it remains difficult for humanoids to walk on icy or rainy roads," noted Dr. Jung Dong-hwi.

Dr. Jung Dong-hwi, Samsung Electronics

The first major challenge is accurate state estimation. In mobile robots, cameras and sensors are mounted on the lower body, so sensors and center of gravity move as one unit. But in humanoids, the center of gravity sits at the pelvis while sensors are positioned on the head. Because the head and pelvis move continuously during walking, all this movement must be factored into position calculations, making it extremely difficult to obtain accurate position values.

The second problem is sensor occlusion. Designs that cover head-mounted sensors with black glass significantly reduce the amount of sensor information available. The need to fit sensors into narrow spaces like the head also limits how many sensors can be mounted. Additionally, walking control itself is highly challenging. Moving on two legs alone, with a low center of gravity, makes stable walking difficult, which is why conditions like icy or rainy roads pose particular difficulty.

How to Understand Humanoid Development Timelines

• Near-Term Focus: Samsung is concentrating on developing humanoids for controlled industrial environments where conditions are predictable and sensor performance is less constrained than outdoor settings.
• Medium-Term Goals: The company aims to achieve reliable bipedal locomotion on standard surfaces, with robust state estimation and sensor integration that can handle real-world variability.
• Long-Term Vision: Samsung's ultimate goal is to develop androids indistinguishable from humans, though Dr. Jung acknowledged this remains a distant prospect requiring breakthroughs across multiple technical domains.

Dr. Jung emphasized that while humanoids still need to overcome many technical difficulties to walk like humans, the field will become a prominent research area in robotics over the next decade. As technology advances, more sophisticated humanoids will emerge as a major concept in the industry.

Samsung's aggressive R&D expansion comes amid intensifying global competition. U.S. companies like Tesla and Figure AI are already demonstrating advanced humanoid prototypes, while Chinese robotics firms are rapidly scaling production. By doubling down on workforce and investment now, Samsung is positioning itself to compete in what could become one of the most consequential technology markets of the next decade.

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