Professor Youngjae Jang of KAIST stated at the AiFrenz 2025 Year-End Networking Party that Korea needs a model in which AI, robotics, and manufacturing IT work as a single team to export entire factories. He emphasized that manufacturing must evolve beyond simply producing goods into an industry that delivers manufacturing software and operational expertise. While the United States and Europe are strengthening domestic manufacturing through new factory construction, Professor Jang noted that this presents a new opportunity for Korea, provided the country first secures competitiveness in manufacturing software.

As a solution, Professor Jang proposed dark factories that can operate without human intervention and a universal robot operating system capable of orchestrating large fleets of heterogeneous robots under a single platform. He also introduced an AI-based factory design program that automatically generates robot routes, operational rules, and 3D digital twins, significantly reducing design time. For small and medium-sized manufacturers, he announced plans to distribute the AI Factory Manager for Everyone solution free of charge, enabling users to analyze robot layouts, travel routes, and production efficiency by simply entering basic factory information. He also noted that a KRW 1 trillion Physical AI testbed is being established in Jeonbuk in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and ICT, and that the project will be carried out through an open framework in which results are validated based on practical outcomes.