LG Makes Strategic Investment in Bear Robotics
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By News Reporter
Strategic Investment Aims to Accelerate Innovation Across
LG’s Commercial, Home and Industrial Robot Solutions
SEOUL, Jan. 24, 2025 — LG Electronics (LG) has taken a significant step in advancing its robotics capabilities by securing a majority stake in Bear Robotics, a prominent Silicon Valley-based startup specializing in AI-driven autonomous service robots. This acquisition aligns with LG’s strategy to strengthen its presence in the robotics sector, a key growth area for the company.
On January 22, LG’s board of directors exercised a call option to acquire an additional 30 percent stake in Bear Robotics. This follows an initial investment of USD 60 million in March 2024, which secured LG a 21 percent stake and a call option agreement for up to an additional 30 percent stake. Upon completion of the call option exercise, LG will hold a controlling 51 percent stake in Bear Robotics, effectively incorporating it as a subsidiary.
As part of this strategic move, LG’s commercial robot business, primarily centered around “LG CLOi Robots,” will be integrated with Bear Robotics. The key management team of Bear Robotics, including CEO John Ha, will remain in place to ensure stable business continuity and will continue to focus on creating synergies in LG’s commercial robot business.
Founded in 2017, Bear Robotics has gained recognition for its AI-powered indoor delivery robots, catering to markets in the United States, South Korea and Japan. The company is noted for its expertise in distributed multi-robot control, remote fleet management system and AI-powered robot platform.
LG aims to expand its presence in the commercial robot market through Bear Robotics. Concurrently, LG intends to leverage its AI and manufacturing expertise to reinforce its home and industrial robot businesses.
The home robot segment will be spearheaded by the LG Home Appliance Solution Company, a renowned industry leader. The company’s focus will be on delivering a holistic experience where home robots, powered by LG’s Affectionate Intelligence, can astutely discern the well-being of family members and seamlessly integrate with home appliances and services.
A prime illustration of this vision is the Self-driving AI Home Hub (project name: Q9), slated for release within the year. The Q9 harnesses multimodal sensing capabilities, encompassing voice, sound and image recognition, coupled with autonomous driving technology. This enables it to navigate the home effortlessly, precisely identify users’ status and respond to their needs effectively by seamlessly connecting and controlling home appliances and IoT devices. The Q9 adeptly navigates obstacles such as carpets and uneven surfaces, while its expressive display conveys emotions, fostering enhanced interaction and engagement.
The Q9 also features Microsoft’s voice recognition and synthesis technology, enabling natural and intuitive conversations with users. Its ability to understand diverse accents, pronunciations and colloquial expressions garnered the attention of attendees at CES 2025. To foster an open development ecosystem, LG has also introduced a software development kit for the Q9, encouraging developers to expand its capabilities further.
In the realm of industrial robots, a cornerstone of LG’s Smart Factory business, the company’s Production engineering Research Institute is spearheading substantial revenue growth through the integration of AI and digital transformation. A key example is the “Autonomous Vertical Articulated Robot,” which employs sensors including cameras, radar and LiDAR to perceive its surroundings, navigate efficiently, supply materials and execute tasks such as assembly and defect inspection with its robotic arm. This innovation facilitates seamless automation across a range of operations.
LG’s CEO William Cho, speaking this month at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, emphasized the importance of this investment, stating, “Robots are a certain future,” and hinted at plans to expand beyond the current focus on hospitality and logistics delivery robots to include the Self-driving AI Home Hub and other home robots to achieve “Zero-labor Home.”
The acquisition of management control of Bear Robotics is expected to create synergies across LG’s entire robotics business, including commercial robots. As the robotics industry increasingly shifts towards AI-centric solutions, this collaboration is poised to significantly enhance LG’s overall robotics software capabilities. LG intends to create an integrated software platform for commercial, industrial and home robots leveraging Bear Robotics’ technology. This platform aims to deliver a consistent and high-quality user experience across various applications. By applying this integrated platform universally to the development of different types of robots, LG expects to shorten development cycles.
LG’s advanced manufacturing capabilities and supply chain management expertise are poised to enhance the operational efficiency and market responsiveness of its robotics business. Furthermore, the extensive global sales network developed through its B2B operations will facilitate broader product distribution. By integrating commercial robots with a range of B2B solutions, including hotel TVs, signage and IT devices, LG can achieve a competitive edge through a turnkey order approach, delivering tailored products that meet the specific needs of corporate clients.
“This additional investment underscores our dedication to positioning robots as a pivotal growth engine for the company, reflecting our belief in their inevitable role in the future,” stated Lee Sam-soo, Chief Strategy Officer at LG Electronics. “We will persist in driving innovation across all sectors of robotics, encompassing commercial, industrial and home applications.”
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By News Reporter
Putting words into action is a critical component of LG’s Life’s Good motto. This has manifested itself across a wide range of activations in the U.S., most recently as part of LG Electronics USA’s partnership with the New York Yankees, one of the most recognized and successful sports franchises in the world.
As
link hidden, please login to view the LG OLED brand has been infused throughout iconic Yankee Stadium. Recently, LG expanded its partnership to include a cause-related component that will benefit the community around the stadium. This effort will support renovations at Elston Gene Howard Field, which sits across the street from the current Yankee Stadium on the site of the original Yankee Stadium. LG’s donation of USD 50,000 will assist in upgrades to the three ballfields at the location, which is utilized by the Bronx community and the Yankees’ Summer Night Lights program.
During an on-field ceremony at Yankee Stadium prior to the Yankees-Red Sox game on September 12, LG USA CEO Chris Jung presented a check to NYC Parks Bronx Borough Commissioner Jessenia Aponte and Administrative Parks and Recreation Manager Clinton Johnson.
“We believe in investing in the communities where we live and work. This collaboration with the New York Yankees enables us to improve these fields for the benefit of the youth of New York City,” said LG Electronic USA CEO Chris Jung. “Creating an environment where children can enjoy positive experiences helps ensure ‘Life’s Good’ in their community and provides a tremendous asset to their growth and development.”
“LG has been a tremendous partner, and they are employing that same forward-looking, collaborative spirit toward the Bronx community, which utilizes Elston Gene Howard Field extensively throughout the year,” said Yankees Senior Vice President of Corporate/Community Relations Brian Smith. “This donation will positively impact thousands of Bronx residents who rely on the park for exercise, recreation and team sports, including the children who participate in the Yankees’ Summer Night Lights programming. We salute LG’s contribution and look forward to seeing the benefits of their donation bear fruit for many years to come.”
Having just completed its second season, Summer Night Lights serves approximately 300 children and teenagers from the Bronx between the ages of 12 and 18 who take part in tournament-style, co-ed baseball and softball games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights throughout July and August. The program is designed to keep area young people engaged in recreation and character-promoting activities on summer evenings, when midweek organized activities for young people are difficult to find.
Contributed by LG USA
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By News Reporter
Company Drives Strategic Growth With AI webOS, an Intelligent Platform
that Delivers Outstanding Customer Value and Unique User Experiences
SEOUL, Sep. 30, 2024 — LG Electronics (LG) last week held webOS Summit 2024 in Incheon, South Korea, sharing its strategic vision and future initiatives for expanding the AI webOS ecosystem and growing its platform business. Themed “Empowering webOS with AI,” the second webOS Summit played host to around 300 attendees representing 140 partner companies – including content developers, producers and providers – from 24 countries. The event also marked a major milestone: the tenth anniversary of the launch of webOS on LG smart TVs.
AI webOS plays a pivotal role in LG’s ambitious business transformation, shifting from a consumer electronics manufacturer to a Smart Life Solution Company. With a strategic investment of over KRW 1 trillion (USD 740 million), LG aims to significantly enhance the capabilities of its webOS platform and related businesses.
To achieve its strategic vision and elevate the value of its unique offerings, LG is continuously broadening the extensive selection of content and services accessible on AI webOS. The platform, which delivers exceptional experiences to LG TV users in over 180 countries, currently provides over 4,000 apps, including those for entertainment, home fitness, education and gaming.
This year, LG is reinforcing the reputation of AI webOS as an advanced gaming platform by adding a variety of new services and experience innovations. At present, the cutting-edge platform offers around 4,500 games across popular cloud gaming services such as GeForce NOW and Amazon Luna. To make gaming on its TVs even more responsive, LG has teamed up with MediaTek and Razer, leveraging new Bluetooth Ultra-Low Latency (BT ULL) technology to reduce input lag to an imperceptible 1ms when using a Bluetooth gaming controller. Demonstrated during webOS Summit 2024, this impressive responsiveness enhances the cloud gaming experience, giving users more precise control and making gameplay more immersive.
LG is also bolstering its competitive edge in content and services by actively seeking out and securing top industry talent. The company recently hosted a global hackathon to discover compelling new games and AI-powered content suitable for AI webOS and is also collaborating on game development with respected institutes of higher education, such as Sungkyunkwan University and New York University.
Furthermore, with the introduction of webOS Pay, LG has made it faster and more convenient for users to purchase content and services on AI webOS. The simple-to-use payment service contributes to the seamless, personalized shopping experience on LG’s intelligent platform.
Over the last decade, LG has sold a remarkable 220 million smart TVs and has consistently strengthened its webOS platform business through licensing agreements with an array of local and global companies. LG first made webOS available to other TV makers in 2021, and since then, the versatile platform has been adopted by over 400 brands. The company is now poised to further expand the webOS ecosystem via an array of webOS-powered automotive infotainment solutions, digital signage, smart monitors, gaming monitors and projectors.
Additionally, the webOS platform is shoring up LG’s strong competitiveness in the advertising business. In 2024, revenue generated by advertising and services on webOS is projected to exceed KRW 1 trillion, which represents a fourfold increase from 2021.
A significant contributor to this excellent performance is LG Channels, a free, ad-supported streaming service that provides over 3,800 channels and is now available in 29 countries. The company has augmented its already stellar offering of top-notch viewing options on its free service with the launch of LG Channels Showcase and LG 1 – new channels boasting a curated selection of premium entertainment. What’s more, LG is adding value to the user experience via the provision of AI-based ad solutions that make content recommendations even more relevant to user preferences.
With its Affectionate Intelligence vision for a more caring, empathetic and attentive AI technology, LG is continuously enriching and enhancing the customer experience. The application of Affectionate Intelligence allows webOS users to enjoy easier control as well as personalized content and service recommendations suited to their individual tastes and lifestyles. Through collaborations with innovative partner companies and the seamless integration of the latest technologies, LG is constantly refining its cutting-edge platform.
Along with informative presentations and demonstrations, webOS Summit 2024 featured an experience zone where attendees were able to see first-hand how powerful AI technologies are driving customer experience innovation on webOS. One of the many intelligent features offered on LG’s platform, AI Concierge employs voice recognition, search history and user data to provide customized app and viewing recommendations. Thanks to its ability to recognize different voices, AI webOS can take each LG smart TV user straight to their own personalized Home Screen without having to manually select their profile.
“Our webOS platform business continues to go from strength to strength based on close collaboration with our valued partners and an unrelenting focus on meeting the diverse needs of our customers,” said Park Hyoung-sei, president of the LG Home Entertainment Company. “Celebrating a decade of webOS innovation, and now enriching customer’s everyday lives with AI webOS, LG is accelerating its transformation into a leading media and entertainment platform company.”
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By News Reporter
Companies to Jointly Develop Total Solutions for Virtual Production and XR Studios
SEOUL, Sep. 9, 2024 — LG Electronics (LG) announces it has acquired a stake in
link hidden, please login to view (Mo-Sys), a market leading developer of virtual production solutions and camera robotics. The strategic seed investment and partnership will expand LG’s capabilities in the virtual production and broadcasting technology segments, enabling it to deliver a more comprehensive lineup of sophisticated hardware- and software-based solutions. Formerly the exclusive province of the movie industry, virtual production studios are becoming increasingly popular with TV broadcasters, and with corporations and educational institutions seeking to create their own content in house. Employing a wide array of advanced technologies, including large-scale LED screens, camera tracking, LED controllers and media servers, virtual production stages have brought a new dimension – and a raft of new possibilities – to the art of visual storytelling.
Renowned for its industry-leading display technology, LG has already established itself in this growing segment, providing its Micro LED and LED screens for both virtual reality (VR) studios and extended reality (XR) stages. Through its newly-signed strategic partnership with Mo-Sys, LG will be able to offer a fuller range of solutions for virtual production and XR studios. As part of the agreement, the two companies will be able to seamlessly support customers who choose to combine LG’s LED displays and controllers with Mo-Sys’s XR products and systems to create a total solution for XR.
“We’re excited by this new partnership, and by the unique value we’ll be able to deliver to customers through combining LG’s mastery of display technology with Mo-Sys’s expertise in virtual production solutions,” said Paik Ki-mun, senior vice president and head of the Information Display business unit of LG Business Solutions Company. “LG will continue to pursue collaboration with partners to strengthen its capabilities as a provider of B2B solutions and innovative experiences.”
Michael Geissler, CEO of Mo-Sys Engineering, commented, “We are delighted to have LG’s support as we continue to innovate in the field of next-generation virtual production technology. Their investment will enable us to enhance our R&D efforts, drive sustainability, and create more efficient production solutions.”
LG virtual production solutions will be on show at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2024 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (September 13-16). For more information, visit .
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By News Reporter
LG Electronics CEO William Cho, in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg, discussed the company’s business strategy, growth areas, and the competitiveness of LG’s AI. Cho highlighted the focus on expanding B2B, subscription services, and its webOS-based advertising and content business to drive growth.
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