Samsung Electronics is turning robotics from a promising side project into a board-level growth initiative. The company has created a new division called RX, short for Robotics eXperience, and placed its strategy directly under the chief executive. Samsung is also bringing in a former Hyundai robotics strategist and planning research hubs in the United States, China and Japan as it pushes humanoid machines toward commercial use.
Samsung Creates a CEO-Led Robotics Division
Reuters reported on July 21 that Samsung created the division to accelerate robotics development and commercialization. The RX organization will oversee mid- to long-term strategy, core technology development and business execution. The structure is significant because it treats robotics as a coordinated business rather than a collection of laboratory projects.
Samsung’s move gives the field a direct line to senior decision-makers. That can help a company combine hardware, sensors, chips, software and manufacturing expertise, all of which are needed to make humanoid robots useful outside controlled demonstrations. It also makes robotics easier to measure as a business priority: the division has an explicit mandate to develop technology and turn it into products or services.
Former Hyundai Robotics Executive Takes the Strategy Role
Executive vice-president Lee Dong-kun will head Samsung’s Robotics Strategy Team. The Straits Times, citing Reuters, reported that Lee previously led robotics strategy at Hyundai Motor Group, including work connected with Boston Dynamics. His background gives Samsung experience from a company that has spent years developing and demonstrating advanced mobile robots.
The appointment is not a guarantee that Samsung will use Boston Dynamics technology or release a specific robot. It does show that Samsung is recruiting for strategy and commercialization, not only research. A robotics business has to decide which components to build internally, which capabilities to buy and which markets can support a product. Those decisions are often as important as the underlying mechanics.
Research Hubs Will Follow the Robotics Talent
Samsung said it plans to establish robotics research hubs in the US, China and Japan. The company’s stated rationale is to strengthen competitiveness by using local ecosystems and expertise in regions where robotics technology is advancing rapidly. The choice of locations reflects how distributed the field has become. The US has deep AI and software resources, Japan has long experience in industrial automation and China has a large manufacturing base and an expanding robotics market.
Operating across those regions could help Samsung find talent and partnerships, but it also adds complexity. Robotics research depends on data, testing environments, supply chains and safety requirements. A global network will have to coordinate standards and protect intellectual property while allowing local teams to work with the ecosystems around them.
Humanoids Will Start in Factories
Samsung has said it wants tangible results from its humanoid robotics business in 2026. The initial target is manufacturing, where robots can work in structured environments and perform tasks that can be measured against productivity and safety goals. The company later wants to expand into homes and retail, environments that are less predictable and require much broader perception and decision-making.
That sequence is sensible. A factory can provide mapped spaces, repeatable workflows and controlled access to equipment. A home contains clutter, people, pets and constantly changing objects. Retail adds customers, noise and a need for robots to behave safely around strangers. Progress in a factory will not automatically translate into a household robot, but it can create the data, reliability and operating experience needed for the next step.
Physical AI Gives Samsung a Technology Thesis
Samsung said advances in physical artificial intelligence are making robotics businesses increasingly viable. Physical AI refers to systems that connect perception and reasoning with action in the real world. For a humanoid robot, that means more than recognizing an object; it must understand what the object is for, plan a sequence of movements and adjust when the environment changes.
Samsung’s advantage is the ability to work across multiple layers of that stack. The company has experience in semiconductors, displays, batteries, consumer electronics and manufacturing. The challenge is integration. A robot can contain excellent components and still fail as a product if its software is unreliable, its battery life is short or its operating cost is too high.
Commercialization Will Matter More Than Demonstrations
Samsung said in April that it would consider investment and acquisitions where necessary to accelerate robotics development and commercialization, while also partnering with local companies. That approach gives the company options as the market develops. It can build core capabilities, buy specialized teams or use partnerships to reach applications more quickly.
No product, price, production volume or customer contract was announced in the reviewed coverage. Samsung’s 2026 target is a company ambition, not a guaranteed delivery schedule. The important change is organizational: RX gives robotics a formal home, a senior strategy lead and an international research plan. Samsung is betting that the next stage of robotics will be won not by a single spectacular demo, but by the company that can connect AI, hardware and manufacturing into a repeatable commercial system.