Professor Youngjae Jang of KAIST and CEO of DAIM Research emphasized at the SIMTOS 2026 Global Manufacturing AX Innovation Conference that establishing a Physical AI ecosystem centered on Korean-developed platforms and securing data sovereignty are essential for strengthening Korea's competitiveness in manufacturing AI. The conference brought together experts from the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (KIRIA) and the manufacturing and robotics sectors to discuss future strategies for manufacturing AI and the robotics industry.

CEO Jang explained that the current manufacturing environment, where foreign-made controllers and sensors are used together, faces limitations in integrated operations because of differing data standards. He stressed that meaningful gains in productivity and cost reduction can only be achieved by building an integrated operating system that orchestrates the entire factory, rather than introducing AI separately for individual machines or production processes. He also noted that Korea already has highly competitive solutions and platforms and should actively adopt them to strengthen the domestic technology ecosystem. He concluded by emphasizing that in the era of Physical AI, the ability to lead factory operations and data architecture with homegrown technologies will be a defining factor in global manufacturing competitiveness.