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Hello Betamax, In an ideal workplace, we get some slack when starting a new job. We all need time to learn systems, understand workflows, and figure out where everything is. Now imagine being hired to match or beat the people already doing the job, in a place with little to no tolerance for mistakes. Welcome to working life as a robot. South Korea looks like a promising place for a robot to land that first job. It has manufacturers across industries, extensive experience with industrial robots, and a shrinking workforce driving demand for automation. For startups building the next generation of robots, plenty of potential customers are within reach. Getting through probation is another matter. In today’s top story, I explore what happens when South Korea’s physical AI ambitions meet the demands of the factory floor. Many manufacturers already have equipment they trust and routines built around it. A new robot has to earn its place within that setup. Who pays for that learning curve? Government funding covers some trials, while shared testing facilities give startups room to iterate. Getting customers to invest also helps to an extent. The harder job, as startups in Southeast Asia are finding, is persuading manufacturers to take part at all. Glenn Kaonang, journalist
TOP STORY Korea’s physical AI ambitions meet the factory’s bottom line
Image credit: Ulla
Larger investments in chip packaging and assembly plants in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore could create demand for Korean-style factory robotics in Southeast Asia. However, the region’s manufacturers may not be as keen to share data as their South Korean peers.
FROM OUR ARCHIVES The startups behind Southeast Asia’s physical AI push 
South Korea may be ahead, but Southeast Asia’s physical AI startups are making strides of their own. Our landscape report from August on firms in the region shows what Southeast Asia’s physical AI startups are focusing on. The largest group is working with mobile and service robots, with 10 startups building in the space. Meanwhile, there are five startups focusing on humanoids. Most of these players are chasing narrower commercial jobs instead of copying the US and China. The likeliest early buyers for the startups in this list may be multinationals with big automation budgets instead of local factories.
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