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KAIST, “BTS” Heads to Space… Five NEONSAT Microsatellites to Launch on Nuri
To monitor areas affected by wildfires or floods using satellites, it is necessary to be able to image those locations again when needed. With a single satellite, it takes time to revisit the same area, but operating multiple satellites together can increase observation opportunities. Five NEONSAT microsatellites, part of a constellation development project led by KAIST, are heading into space aboard the Nuri launch vehicle.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on October 6 that NEONSAT satellites Nos. 2 through 6, whose development project is led by the Satellite Technology Research Center of the KAIST Space Institute, will be launched as the primary payload of the fifth Nuri launch scheduled for October 7 from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province. The launch is scheduled to take place between 12:23 p.m. and 1:23 p.m., with the exact time to be determined on the day of launch.
President Choongsik Bae said, “This launch marks an important milestone in expanding KAIST’s long-accumulated capabilities in small satellite development into a satellite constellation system in which multiple satellites are manufactured and operated together,” adding, “We hope our research and technologies will be reliably demonstrated in space and lead to tangible value that contributes to people’s lives in areas such as disaster response and public safety.”
NEONSAT is an Earth observation satellite weighing less than 100 kg per unit. It is designed to capture high-resolution imagery at approximately 1-meter resolution in panchromatic mode and 4-meter resolution in color. If the planned constellation of 10 mass-produced satellites is completed by 2027, the system will be able to image the Korean Peninsula more than three times a day and revisit the same location within 24 hours in the event of emergencies such as disasters.
This project is Korea’s first development program for a practical, mass-produced satellite constellation. The KAIST Satellite Technology Research Center oversees the entire project, including satellite system development, and has established analytical methods and management procedures required to jointly develop, verify, and operate multiple satellites. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute is responsible for developing the ground system for constellation operations as well as satellite image calibration, validation, and utilization systems, while Satrec Initiative Co., Ltd. participated in the development of the satellite bus and high-resolution optical camera. The project is being carried out jointly by Korean industry, academia, and research institutions with support from the Korea AeroSpace Administration.
KAIST has assigned the common acronym “BTS” to each launch stage to reflect the progression of the satellite constellation development. The prototype satellite was designated “Beginning of The Swarm,” the validation satellite “Bridging of The Swarm,” the first batch of mass-produced satellites being launched this time “Beholding of The Swarm,” and the second batch of mass-produced satellites scheduled for launch in 2027 “Beyond The Swarm.” These names represent the progression from the prototype and validation stages to full-scale constellation launches and operations.
Jae-Hung Han, Director of the KAIST Space Institute, said, “The key to this project is not simply building a single satellite, but establishing a system in which multiple satellites are manufactured and verified to the same standards and operated together in orbit,” adding, “After launch, we will carefully verify the condition of the satellites and the quality of their imagery to ensure that constellation observations proceed as planned.”
In addition to the five NEONSAT satellites, the upcoming Nuri launch will carry 10 CubeSats as secondary payloads. Among them, another KAIST satellite, GBSAT, will investigate the low-Earth-orbit space environment.
2026.10.06 View 311 -
KAIST Reveals How the Light-Responsive Molecular Switch Azobenzene Changes Shape
Azobenzene is one of the best-known molecules that can be switched between two forms by light. However, the question of how the molecule moves in the first few picoseconds (trillionths of a second) after it absorbs light has remained unresolved for nearly 50 years. A Korean research team has now shown that, during the initial stage of the reaction, the molecule changes shape through a coordinated motion of the two nitrogen atoms at its center, while its two benzene rings stay nearly in place. The finding is expected to provide useful information for designing materials and molecular-scale machines that operate with light.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on October 1 that a research team led by Hyotcherl Ihee, Professor in the Department of Chemistry at KAIST and Director of the Center for Advanced Reaction Dynamics (CARD) at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, President Sukbok Chang), has identified the process by which the light-responsive molecule azobenzene changes its structure.
Azobenzene consists of two benzene rings connected by a central linkage of two nitrogen atoms. When it absorbs light, the molecule can change from a form in which the two rings are on opposite sides of the linkage (the trans form) to a form in which they are on the same side (the cis form). The molecule keeps the same atoms, and only their positions change. Researchers have used this property to control the activity of drugs with light and to develop light-responsive materials and molecular machines.
However, the structures of the molecule before and after the change do not show how it moves between the two forms. Researchers have proposed different explanations. Some suggested that the two rings rotate significantly, some that the central linkage straightens, and others that several parts of the molecule twist together. The question has been difficult to resolve because the structures that form during the reaction exist for too short a time to be observed directly.
The research team used the X-ray free-electron laser at the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL-XFEL) to observe these structures. The researchers first started the reaction by irradiating azobenzene dissolved in methanol with a laser. They then measured how its structure changed over time using ultrafast X-ray pulses.
The main challenge was to detect the weak signal from azobenzene, which was obscured by the much stronger signal from the surrounding solvent. The team separated the two signals using an analysis method that mathematically removes the contribution of the solvent. Based on the measurements taken at each point in time, the researchers then reconstructed the motion of the molecule as a movie.
The results showed that azobenzene does not change shape by rotating its two large benzene rings significantly at the same time. Instead, the reaction begins with torsion about the carbon–nitrogen bonds. During this initial motion, the central nitrogen linkage moves in a coordinated motion, similar to the way the two pedals of a bicycle move, and this changes the overall shape of the molecule.
This finding helps explain why the reaction rate does not change significantly even when the surrounding liquid becomes more viscous. If the molecule had to rotate its two large rings, it would need to displace a large volume of the surrounding liquid. Because the motion occurs mainly in the central part of the molecule, much less liquid needs to be displaced.
"This study shows the pathway by which azobenzene changes its shape after it absorbs light," said Professor Hyotcherl Ihee. He added that the team expects the work to help researchers understand how a wide range of light-responsive molecules work, because it improves methods for observing the motion of organic molecules that react rapidly.
The study did not directly improve the performance of drugs or materials that use azobenzene. Its significance is that it identifies the pathway the molecule actually follows as it moves. This provides basic data that researchers can refer to when they design light-responsive materials and molecular machines.
Dr. Jungmin Kim and Dr. Hosung Ki, who both received their degrees from KAIST and are now at IBS, are co-first authors of the study. The findings were published online in the international journal Nature on September 30 (UK time).
Paper title: X-ray liquidography decodes complex motions in azobenzene isomerization,
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11068-4
This research was supported by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Research Center Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT.
2026.10.02 View 543 -
“It’s Okay to Disagree”: KAIST Suggests That a Secure Sense of Attachment Can Help Groups Make Better Decisions
When everyone in a meeting voices the same opinion, an organization can miss important warning signs and new ideas. A research team from KAIST suggests that when members feel securely accepted within their group, they can express dissenting opinions in greater detail and more persuasively, and other members may be more willing to use those opinions in decision-making.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on September 27 that a research team led by Professors Sujin Lee and Seungwon Jeong from the School of Business and Technology Management, working jointly with Professor Zoe Kinias from the Ivey Business School at Western University in Canada, presented research findings suggesting that “group attachment security” can promote the expression and acceptance of minority opinions within groups.
Group attachment security refers to a psychological state where a person perceives the group they belong to as a secure source of support. Members develop group attachment security when they receive emotional and relational support from the group and feel recognized as valued members. The more secure this attachment, the more members come to believe that voicing a different opinion will not lead to rejection or exclusion within the group.
People with dissenting opinions often hesitate to speak up due to potential backlash, even when holding crucial insights. This difficulty can be even greater within one’s own organization, where members face stronger expectations to align with the majority view.
The researchers reasoned that when feeling secure in a group calms relationship worries, members focus on the best outcome instead of other people's reactions. To test this, the team conducted two experiments using hypothetical decision-making scenarios, examining the perspectives of both minority opinion holders and the majority members who receive their opinions.
In the first experiment, participants were assigned to a group primed with attachment security or one that was not, and then asked to express their opinions in a scenario where they held a minority view.
The results showed that participants primed with group attachment security produced more elaborated and persuasive arguments than those in the neutral condition. The research team also confirmed that this difference occurred because the participants focused more on the problem and the content of their opinion itself.
In the second experiment, participants took the perspective of a majority member and evaluated selected arguments written by minority opinion holders in the first experiment. The research team found that participants rated arguments from the secure attachment condition as more persuasive than those from the neutral condition. Overall, participants reported less perceived expectancy violation and a greater willingness to use minority opinions from the secure condition.
In both experiments, the research team further distinguished minority members as either ingroup or outgroup members based on whether they shared a group identity with the majority opinion holders. This exploratory analysis was designed to examine whether group attachment security reduces relational concerns in expressing dissent. The researchers reasoned that minority members who shared a group identity with the majority might be less likely to dissent than outgroup minority members, because ingroup members are generally expected to share similar opinions.
Most interactions between group attachment security and ingroup/outgroup membership were not statistically significant, with expectancy violation in the second experiment being the only exception. Exploratory analyses, however, revealed a consistent pattern only among ingroup minorities; group attachment security shaped the quality of minority opinions through greater task focus in the first experiment, and the majority’s higher willingness to use minority opinions through both reduced expectancy violation and greater perceived persuasiveness in the second experiment.
This finding suggests that belonging to the same organization does not necessarily make it easier to voice dissenting opinions. In fact, ingroup members may feel greater pressure to conform to the group’s shared assumptions or majority opinion, making it harder for them to point out problems with current practices or offer negative feedback. In such cases, confidence that expressing a different opinion will not jeopardize one’s relationships or standing within the group can help ease this burden.
This research also has practical implications for organizations that rely on external consulting or audits because members do not speak up enough about problems or suggest improvements. If members who are closest to an organization’s problems remain silent out of concern for damaged relationships or negative evaluations, the organization cannot fully draw on their knowledge or act on the warning signs they identify. To encourage members to speak up, organizations need to provide opportunities for members to speak and build an environment in which those members a stable, secure attachment to the group.
The findings also suggest that simply gathering members from diverse backgrounds into one organization is not enough to realize the benefits of diversity. Diversity can contribute to decision-making and innovation only when members can safely express opinions that differ from the majority, and when other members treat those opinions as useful information rather than as conflict or a challenge to the organization.
These findings could inform efforts to develop organizational cultures and leadership practices that reduce groupthink and make better use of members’ knowledge and perspectives at companies, research institutions, and public organizations. Examples include leaders openly inviting counterarguments, recognizing the contributions of minority opinions, and consistently reassuring members that voicing a different opinion will not harm their relationships or result in unfavorable evaluations within the organization.
Professor Sujin Lee and Seungwon Jeong explained, “Simply giving members the opportunity to voice a different opinion is not enough. Members need to be confident that they won’t be excluded from the organization for holding a different opinion, so they can explain their thoughts in greater detail and more persuasively, and the majority can receive that opinion as useful information for reaching a better decision rather than as conflict.”
The study, with Tae Hyun Kim, a doctoral candidate in the School of Business and Technology Management, as first author, was published online in the international journal Scientific Reports on August 4.
Paper title: The role of group attachment security in minority opinion expression in decision making groups,
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-65147-7
Paper link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-65147-7
This research was supported by the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. RS-2024-00397663 and No. IITP-2022(2026)-RS-2022-00156435), and by Samsung Electronics (No. IO251218-14849-01).
2026.09.28 View 811 -
KAIST Launches Korea's First Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Research Institute
Moving beyond today’s AI, which excels at solving problems similar to those encountered during training, KAIST has launched a dedicated research institute to develop foundational technologies for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) that can make decisions and adapt independently when faced with unfamiliar problems and environments.
KAIST announced that it officially launched the AGI Research Institute under the KAIST AI Research Institute (AIRI) on September 18, following the completion of internal approval procedures.
The research team initially comprises 11 professors: Kim Tae-Kyun (T-K), Kim Hyunwoo, and Oh Tae-Hyun (School of Computing); Sung Minhyuk (Department of AI Computing); Shin Jinwoo and Ye Jong Chul (Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI); Kim Junmo and Chung Joon Son (Department of Electrical Engineering); Ahn Sungjin (Department of AI Computing); and Park Noseong and Yoon Sung-Eui (School of Computing). Professor Kim Tae-Kyun (T-K) of the School of Computing was appointed as the institute’s inaugural director, with plans to gradually expand the team.
The AGI Research Institute has been established with the mission of advancing the science and engineering of AGI through fundamental research and returning the benefits to society. Its core research focus is “generalization”—the ability of AI to apply learned knowledge to previously unseen tasks, environments, and data domains.
While current AI systems have achieved remarkable results through the scaling of data and computational power, they still struggle to learn and reason beyond their learnt domains. They perform well on problems similar to their training data, but their performance can decline when conditions or environments change.
The institute plans to move beyond simply scaling data and computing resources by developing foundational technologies that enable AI to reason about previously unseen problems and adapt to new environments, even with limited resources.
To this end, the institute will investigate the fundamental principles of AI through research into novel and efficient neural network architectures, learning principles, understanding the physical world, and the implementation of intelligence. It will also cultivate the next generation of research leaders.
The institute’s key research areas include:
• Efficient Foundation Models: Achieving high performance with less computation.
• Novel Knowledge Discovery (AI Meta-Scientist): Enabling AI to generate its own hypotheses and discover new knowledge.
• World Understanding: Developing world models that understand the structure and dynamics of the physical world and predict the future.
• Physical AI: Enabling embodied systems, such as robots, to perceive and act within real-world environments.
• AI Safety: Ensuring that AI remains aligned with human intent.
In Efficient Foundation Models, the institute will develop neural network architectures and learning methods that go beyond Transformers, with the aim of enabling AGI even in resource-constrained environments. In AI Meta-Scientist research, it will develop AI systems that go beyond exploring existing knowledge to generate their own hypotheses, conduct scientific research, and discover new knowledge.
By integrating these interconnected research areas into a single research institute, KAIST aims to establish itself as a global hub for AGI research.
Director Kim Tae-Kyun said, “There are limits to how far AI can advance simply by continuing to expand AI data centers.” He added, “Sustained efforts to develop foundational AI technologies that can adapt to new problems even in resource-constrained environments will be critical to staying competitive in the next generation of AI.”
The institute will pursue its research through national R&D projects supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT. Funding includes a total of KRW 10 billion over five years for the development of lightweight, low-power next-generation neural network architectures and KRW 18.75 billion over five years for AI Meta-Scientist research. The institute is also participating in a project led by LG Electronics to develop world models and robotics-based Physical AI technologies. That project has a total budget of KRW 34 billion over two years. In addition, the institute is conducting research on physically grounded intelligence.
Choi Sung-Yool, Vice President of Research at KAIST, remarked, “I expect KAIST’s outstanding AI research teams to make significant contributions to developing core next-generation AGI technologies that lead the way toward sustainable human development.”
Hong Jin-bae, President of IITP, stated, “As creative ideas and challenging research drive AI technological innovation, I look forward to the new AGI research institute becoming a hub of innovation that unlocks new possibilities for the future of artificial intelligence.”
2026.09.22 View 1387 -
KAIST Robot That Follows Verbal Directions and Checks Its Own Work Takes First and Second Place in International Competitions
A robot that can follow a single verbal instruction, navigate an unfamiliar building, and verify that it has reached the correct destination has earned top honors in two international competitions.
KAIST (President Chungsik Bae) announced on September 11 that a team led by Professor Hyun Myung of the Urban Robotics Lab in the School of Electrical Engineering took first place in an international challenge held in conjunction with ECCV 2026, a leading computer vision conference, and second place in a challenge at RSS 2026, a leading robotics conference.
The team’s technology goes beyond conventional navigation. It enables robots to interpret their surroundings and independently verify whether they have made the right decision.
Both competitions focused on embodied AI—the ability of a robot to understand human language, perceive its surroundings through cameras, make decisions, and act on them. Unlike AI systems that operate solely in the digital realm, embodied AI interacts directly with the physical world.
Professor Myung’s research team joined forces with the Field Robotics Research Section of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) to form the “URL-FRRS” team. The team placed first among 112 teams worldwide in the VLNVerse Challenge, a vision-language navigation competition held at the ECCV 2026 EMR Workshop in Malmö, Sweden on September 9.
The competition tested whether a robot could reach the correct destination based solely on a stated goal, such as “Find the blue sofa in the living room,” or a multistep instruction, such as “Turn right at the end of the hallway and enter the second door.”
When the research team analyzed why existing robots were failing, they found that, surprisingly, the more common cause was not an inability to find the route, but the robot mistakenly concluding it had “arrived” at the wrong location. A robot might, for example, pass the actual destination or mistake a similar-looking room for the target.
To address this problem, the team developed CoRe-VLN, short for Coverage-based Recovery for Vision-Language Navigation. The technology prompts the robot to verify its location whenever it is about to stop, essentially asking itself, “Is this really the destination?”
Once the robot determines that it may have reached its destination, it scans its surroundings again. An AI model capable of interpreting both text and images then checks whether the robot is in the correct room, whether the target object matches the specified color and shape, and whether the object is actually nearby. The process is similar to a person checking a sign or looking around after arriving at a meeting point to make sure they are in the right place.
If the robot determines that it has stopped at the wrong location, it plans a new route and resumes its search. Because CoRe-VLN can be added to an existing navigation system without further training, it gives the robot a self-verification and recovery capability that can be readily applied in unfamiliar environments.
The team achieved an average success rate of 90.7% across the two competition tasks. Although it tied with the runner-up in success rate, it secured first place by submitting its results earlier. The third-place team recorded a success rate of 89.7%.
The KAIST team also took second place in the NaviTrace Challenge at the RSS 2026 OWN Workshop, held in Sydney, Australia, in July.
In this competition, a robot was given only a single photograph and a brief command, such as “Drive into the parking lot,” and had to determine the correct direction of travel.
When entering a parking lot, people instinctively distinguish the entrance from the exit by interpreting road markings and observing the direction of other vehicles. These cues, however, are not explicitly stated in the command. To navigate spaces shared with people, robots must be able to infer such implicit rules directly from the scene before them.
The team addressed this challenge by developing PRISM-Nav, a system in which multiple AI agents divide the work instead of relying on a single AI model to make every decision.
One agent locates the destination, another identifies hazards such as stairs and curbs, and a third recognizes socially significant features such as sidewalks and crosswalks. A final agent integrates their findings and determines the direction of travel. The approach resembles a group where one person checks the route, another watches for hazards, and a third interprets traffic rules before they jointly choose the safest path.
The researchers also streamlined communication among the AI agents. Instead of describing locations through lengthy text or numerical coordinates, the agents mark destinations and hazardous areas directly on an image and share the annotated image with one another, much like handing someone a marked-up map rather than explaining the route verbally. PRISM-Nav can also be deployed in new environments without retraining the AI models.
The team scored 53 points in the competition, finishing second behind a joint team from Nanjing University and FiveAges.
Notably, the team used multiple instances of the relatively inexpensive and lightweight Gemini 3 Flash model to outperform Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview, the more powerful model used by the organizers as a benchmark. The result demonstrated that coordinating several lightweight AI models can deliver better performance and cost efficiency than relying on a single, more expensive model to handle every task.
“We are delighted that the potential of our technology has been recognized in a competition with research teams from around the world. This achievement demonstrates that AI can make decisions and act independently in unfamiliar environments without additional training.” said Professor Myung.
He added, “We plan to extend this approach beyond navigation to tasks such as identifying, picking up, and moving objects, ultimately developing robots that can verify and correct their own decisions.”
As the technology advances, robots may move beyond simply executing human commands. Before acting, they could independently ask, “Is this the right place?”, “Is this the right object?”, or “Is this action safe?” Such capabilities could benefit not only delivery and guide robots but also robots operating alongside people in logistics centers, factories, hospitals, and other shared environments.
Professor Myung’s laboratory also took first place in international challenges held at ICRA 2026, a leading robotics conference, and CVPR 2026, a leading computer vision conference, in June. The laboratory is now expanding its expertise in spatial cognition into the field of physical AI.
This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP). (END)
2026.09.16 View 2794 -
KAIST Signs MOU with Université Paris-Saclay on Behalf of K-STAR
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on September 9 that, representing K-STAR, a consortium comprising KAIST, GIST, DGIST, UNIST, and POSTECH, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Université Paris-Saclay on September 7 to strengthen research cooperation. The signing ceremony took place at Bâtiment Bréguet on the university’s campus.
The agreement was concluded on the occasion of President Lee Jae-myung’s state visit to France. It follows up on plans discussed at the ninth Korea-France Joint Committee on Science and Technology, held in Seoul in April, to expand scientific, technological, and academic exchanges between K-STAR and French universities.
Université Paris-Saclay is one of France’s leading research universities. It is home to a large research and education ecosystem encompassing universities, grandes écoles, and major national research organizations, including the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). The university has internationally recognized strengths across a broad range of fields, from mathematics and physics to artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biology, and engineering.
Under the agreement, K-STAR and Université Paris-Saclay will establish a practical framework for cooperation encompassing student exchanges, mobility programs for early-career researchers, and joint research. They plan to begin by offering research internships through which undergraduate and graduate students can gain experience in laboratories at partner institutions. They will also expand opportunities for exchanges and collaboration among postdoctoral researchers and early-career faculty members.
The two sides will promote joint research in key scientific and technological fields, including artificial intelligence, quantum technology, advanced biotechnology, and advanced materials. They will also facilitate shared access to research infrastructure and organize regular workshops and symposia, enabling researchers to maintain sustained exchanges and develop new collaborative research projects.
The agreement strengthens “Global Connect,” KAIST’s strategy for international cooperation. Through this initiative, KAIST seeks to move beyond conventional university exchanges by closely integrating research, education, and talent mobility. It also aims to expand its global research network in partnership with Korea’s other science and technology-focused universities.
“Global cooperation must move beyond conventional exchanges and evolve into partnerships that combine complementary strengths to create new knowledge and cultivate talent together. By connecting the research capabilities of Université Paris-Saclay and K-STAR, we expect to generate new research achievements in critical fields such as AI, quantum technology, and biotechnology, while further strengthening Korea’s global network in science and technology,” said KAIST President Choongsik Bae.
The agreement is also significant because it expands the educational and research cooperation that KAIST has developed with France over the past 15 years to the K-STAR level.
KAIST also signed a student exchange agreement with CentraleSupélec, a grande école affiliated with Université Paris-Saclay, in 2011. The two institutions subsequently established a dual-degree program in mechanical engineering in 2017 and have continued to develop their partnership. Building on the experience and mutual trust accumulated through this cooperation, the new agreement broadens the partnership to encompass K-STAR and Université Paris-Saclay.
Université Paris-Saclay President Camille Galap said, “Université Paris-Saclay and K-STAR have broad research capabilities spanning basic science and advanced technology, giving this partnership considerable potential. I hope the agreement will promote more active exchanges among students and researchers from both countries and enable us to achieve new scientific advances through joint research.”
Jaemin Jung, KAIST Senior Vice President for Planning and Budget, said, “This agreement marks the beginning of our efforts to translate the university-level cooperation discussed at the ninth Korea-France Joint Committee on Science and Technology in April into concrete research collaboration. KAIST will support exchanges among students and researchers so that they can work in one another’s laboratories and produce tangible outcomes, including joint research projects, publications, and the shared use of research infrastructure.”
The signing ceremony was also attended by Stéphane Nonnenmacher, Director of the Graduate School of Mathematics at Université Paris-Saclay; Divya Madhavan, Director of International Relations at CentraleSupélec; and a delegation from the Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), a KAIST-affiliated institute.
2026.09.09 View 2067 -
KAIST Develops Smartphone-Based Technology to Detect Hidden Cameras
A smartphone can now be transformed into a “hidden-camera detector.” KAIST researchers have developed an AI technology that can detect hidden cameras using only a smartphone and a low-cost LED device. This new security technology enables users to protect their privacy more easily and is expected to help prevent illegal filming in everyday spaces such as hotels and short-term rentals.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 30 that a research team led by Professor Jun Han of the School of Computing, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University, has developed “SweepLED,” a technology that detects hidden cameras by attaching an LED case to a smartphone.
As hidden cameras are increasingly being installed in everyday spaces such as hotels, short-term rentals, and restrooms, the need is growing for detection technology that everyday users can easily use. However, existing portable detectors require users to visually identify bright reflective spots, which can lead to false positives by mistaking reflections from metal, glass, or glossy plastic surfaces for camera lenses.
SweepLED works by keeping the smartphone camera fixed while changing only the direction of the LED illumination, then analyzing the patterns of reflected light that appear on object surfaces. Reflections from ordinary glossy objects tend to move or disappear depending on the direction of the light. In contrast, camera lenses show distinctive deformation patterns in their reflections due to their internal lens, aperture, and sensor structures.
The research team uses deep learning-based analysis to distinguish these differences in temporal reflection patterns. While conventional detection methods rely on the user’s eyes to simply look for “bright spots,” SweepLED is different in that it analyzes both the movement and shape changes of reflections across multiple lighting angles.
This enables more reliable detection of hidden camera lenses inside various everyday objects commonly found in lodging spaces, such as chargers, clocks, remote controls, and everyday objects.
The research team evaluated SweepLED on 30 objects that may be found in real-world environments and found that it achieved approximately 94% detection accuracy. It also took less than five seconds to inspect a single object.
In addition, the core components of the LED case attached to the smartphone cost less than USD 7, or about KRW 10,000, demonstrating the potential for this technology to be developed into an affordable detection tool that general users can easily access.
Professor Jun Han said, “Hidden cameras pose a serious threat to personal safety and privacy in everyday spaces,” adding, “This research is meaningful in that it combines low-cost smartphone-based hardware with AI analysis to present the possibility of a practical detection technology that even non-experts can use.”
This paper, with KAIST doctoral student Jonghyuk Yun as first author, was presented on June 20 at ACM MobiSys 2026, one of the leading international conferences in the field of mobile computing.
Paper title: Hide-and-Sweep: Detecting Concealed Cameras via LED Illumination Sweeps
https://doi.org/10.1145/3812835.3814866
Author information: Jonghyuk Yun (first author), Jaeyoung Moon, Yunseo Park, Sean Rui Xiang Tan, Byunghyun Kim, Rajesh Krishna Balan, and Professor Jun Han (corresponding author)
This research was supported by the STEAM Global Convergence Research Support Program and the Mid-Career Researcher Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
2026.08.31 View 9699 -
KAIST and Samsung Heavy Industries Launch Advanced Maritime Research Center, Marking 32 Years of Industry–Academia Collaboration
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced that it held an opening ceremony for the SHI–KAIST Advanced Maritime Research Center (AMRC) with Samsung Heavy Industries (Vice Chairman and CEO Sung-an Choi) on August 13 at the John Hannah Hall in KAIST Academic Cultural Complex on its main campus in Daejeon.
The new center marks a major milestone in the 32-year industry–academia partnership between the two institutions, which dates back to 1995. Building on more than three decades of joint research and mutual trust, KAIST and Samsung Heavy Industries are expanding their partnership through a joint research hub dedicated to developing key technologies for the future of the shipbuilding and offshore industries.
Through the center, the two institutions will jointly develop technologies that address industry needs in areas including AI, robotics, and green technologies. They will also work to bring research outcomes into industrial applications and develop highly skilled professionals.
“Physical AI that drives innovation in real-world industrial settings will be a determining factor in manufacturing competitiveness,” said KAIST President Choongsik Bae. “The shipbuilding and offshore industry is a prime field for creating new value through the convergence of mechanical engineering, AI, and robotics. I hope the center will grow into a research hub that addresses challenges facing industry and sets new benchmarks for future technologies.”
“It is especially meaningful to see our 32 years of collaboration with KAIST culminate in the establishment of the Advanced Maritime Research Center,” said Sung-an Choi, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries. “We will further accelerate our efforts to secure technological competitiveness and foster talent for the future shipbuilding and offshore industry in areas including autonomous navigation, eco-friendly vessels, and smart manufacturing.”
To secure key technologies for the future shipbuilding and offshore industry, the center will conduct joint research in four areas. AI technologies for autonomous operation and intelligent navigation; propulsion systems using zero- and low-carbon fuels; manufacturing innovation for smart shipyards and digital twins; and robotics specialized for shipbuilding and offshore applications.
In autonomous navigation, researchers will develop AI algorithms for advanced autonomous navigation systems, including technologies for situational awareness, optimal route planning, and collision avoidance. The center will also conduct research on zero- and low-carbon fuels in response to international efforts toward carbon neutrality and the green transition of the shipping and shipbuilding industries. This work will focus on key vessel components and fuel-supply technologies for clean fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen.
In the area of smart shipyards, the center will use AI and digital twin technologies to optimize complex shipbuilding processes, including block erection and production management. This research aims to improve productivity and quality while reducing costs and energy consumption. In specialized maritime robotics, researchers will develop technologies to automate demanding on-site tasks such as welding, painting, and inspection. These technologies will help address the decline in the working-age population while improving worker safety and production efficiency.
Beyond technology development, the center will serve as a hub for training specialists who will lead the future maritime industry. The two institutions will use industry–academia cooperation funding and other resources to support student research and scholarship programs. They will also expand personnel exchange programs connecting industrial sites and research laboratories, thereby continuously fostering research talent with the practical, industry-relevant capabilities needed in the field.
The center was established on the foundation of more than three decades of cooperation between the two institutions. Their partnership began in 1995, when Samsung Heavy Industries’ Ship & Offshore Research Institute and KAIST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering established the SHI–KAIST Industry–Academia Cooperation Council. Since then, they have conducted joint research spanning the shipbuilding and offshore engineering fields—including structures, fluid dynamics, cryogenics, green technologies, smart ships, and autonomous navigation—and accumulated a broad base of foundational technologies.
The institutions have continued to strengthen the connection between research and industry through initiatives such as the Advisory Board program, industry-tailored courses, and joint SEED research projects. The number of collaborative projects and technical consulting cases conducted through the Advisory Board program has exceeded 1,000. The two institutions have also maintained active personnel exchanges through short-term researcher training and cooperative education programs.
Approximately 50 people attended the opening ceremony to celebrate the launch of the center, including KAIST President Choongsik Bae, faculty members and professors emeriti from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries Vice Chairman and CEO Sung-an Choi, and other executives and officials.
2026.08.13 View 2980 -
KAIST Develops AI to Detect ‘Foreign-Linked Opinion Manipulation’ in 110 Million News Comments
During election seasons or major national issues, online news comment sections often become heated spaces of conflict across gender, generation, and political lines. For years, there have been persistent concerns that behind some of these conflicts may lie “foreign winds,” or interventions by foreign actors seeking to manipulate public opinion and deepen social divisions. A KAIST research team has now developed a technology that uses big data on two decades worth of news comments and artificial intelligence (AI) to precisely detect traces of such hidden influence operations.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on the 12th of August that a joint research team led by Professor Wonjae Lee of the Graduate School of Culture Technology, Professor Meeyoung Cha of the School of Computing (Scientific director at Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy) and Professor Alice Oh of the School of Computing, in collaboration with Professor Thorsten Holz of the Max Planck Institute, has developed an explainable AI technology that automatically detects patterns suspected of foreign-linked influence operations in online news comments and provides specific evidence for its judgments.
The organized and repeated posting of comments or content by certain actors to shape public opinion in a desired direction is known as an “online influence operation.” Existing AI-based detection technologies have had a key limitation: even when they classify certain accounts as belonging to a “blacklist,” they often fail to provide clear evidence explaining why those accounts should be considered influence-operation accounts.
To overcome this limitation, the research team used 70 foreign-linked accounts previously identified by the Institute for National Security Strategy as starting points. They then tracked groups of accounts connected to them or repeatedly commenting on the same news articles, ultimately collecting and analyzing a large-scale dataset of 110 million comments posted on Naver News over a 20-year period from 2006 to 2025.
In particular, the AI developed by the research team examines accounts through a careful three-step process. First, it checks whether there are clues suggesting that the author may be linked to a foreign source. Second, it examines whether the comment contains emotionally polarizing expressions, such as moral condemnation or blind praise. Third, it identifies which country or target the emotional framing is directed toward.
The model does not stop at simply labeling an account as suspicious. It also highlights the specific phrases in the comments that served as the basis for its judgment. The team further combined this with multidimensional behavioral-pattern analysis, including account activity frequency, account lifespan, and activity links with other suspected accounts. As a result, among approximately 4 million Naver News users, the model ultimately identified 23,998 accounts exhibiting patterns consistent with suspected public-opinion manipulation.
The analysis also revealed the more subtle strategy of these suspected accounts. Their main target was not the victory of a particular political camp, but rather the maximization of division and confrontation within Korean society.
Among the top 10 targets that drew the highest public engagement, measured through likes and other reactions, seven were prominent domestic political figures. Notably, the attacks were not concentrated on a single party or ideology. Former and current presidents, presidential candidates, and political parties from both progressive and conservative camps were targeted across the spectrum. According to the research team, this suggests a sophisticated strategy aimed not so much at supporting a particular group, but at inflaming domestic political conflict and increasing social distrust and polarization.
This study is significant because it provides data-based evidence for influence-operation activity that had previously been discussed largely in terms of suspicion, while also offering a potential defense mechanism for protecting healthy online public discourse. In the future, portal platforms and related organizations could use this technology during elections or national crises to monitor the influx of suspicious accounts in real time and prioritize the review of coordinated attacks against domestic political figures. However, the research team emphasized that the AI should not be used to block accounts indiscriminately, but rather as an explainable content-moderation tool that supports the judgment of expert reviewers.
Professor Wonjae Lee said, “By analyzing 20 years of data, we found that suspected accounts tended to use messages criticizing Korea and domestic political figures rather than directly praising foreign countries, and that these messages gained higher visibility,” adding, “This research can provide empirical criteria for when and which messages platforms and monitoring organizations should prioritize for review, especially during socially sensitive periods such as elections.”
Professor Alice Oh said, “This is a meaningful achievement in which AI precisely identified not only the surface meaning of words in massive comment datasets, but also subtle emotional patterns and organized behavioral signals intended to provoke conflict,” adding, “It can become a powerful defense system against online influence operations, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated.”
Professor Meeyoung Cha said, “This study goes beyond simple blacklist-account analysis and represents the outcome of actionable data science that addresses real-world problems and drives practical change,” adding, “In an online environment where social conflict is deepening, we hope this technology will serve as a practical tool for protecting the transparency and trustworthiness of the digital public sphere.”
This research was led by KAIST Ph.D. candidate Jaehong Kim and master’s student Hyeonseung Kim as co-first authors. The paper is scheduled to be presented at the USENIX Security Symposium 2026, one of the most prestigious conferences in the field of computer security.
Paper title: Cross-National Information Attacks: A Two-Decade Analysis of Troll Behavior in Korea,
DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2606.22785
This research was supported by the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation, the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation, and the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
2026.08.12 View 4254 -
KAIST and Seoul National University Students Hold 100-Hour Robot Hackathon to Nurture Physical AI Talent
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 4 that RoboticUS, a joint student organization formed by students from KAIST and Seoul National University, is holding the inaugural Robot Hackathon at KAIST from August 3 to 8.
"In the era of Physical AI, we need convergence talent who can go beyond building good AI to design and implement robots and systems that move the real world based on AI," said Choongsik Bae, President of KAIST. "This hackathon, planned and run entirely by students, is a good example of KAIST's culture of challenge and collaboration, and we expect it to become a new educational model for turning future technologies into reality," he added.
The hackathon puts this educational philosophy directly into students' hands. It is Korea's first student-led Physical AI robot hackathon, planned and run by students from KAIST and Seoul National University across institutional boundaries. Participants experience the entire process of designing and building working robots, developing hands-on capabilities that integrate AI and hardware.
The event is hosted by RoboticUS, a nonprofit student organization formed jointly by MR, a robotics club in KAIST's Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Seoul National University's robotics clubs SHAPE and SIGMA. Students who share a passion for robotics from the two universities joined forces across institutional lines, handling every stage themselves — from recruiting participants to designing the mission, running the event, and setting up the presentation and judging format. KAIST's Department of Mechanical Engineering supports the event with facilities and operational assistance so that the students' initiative can translate into genuine educational value.
Ten teams — 30 students total — selected from the two universities will take part. After receiving training in power circuits and robot joint control on August 3 and 4, participants will begin building their robots when the mission is unveiled on the morning of August 5 and continue working until 4 p.m. on August 8. Starting from an idea, they will go through design, assembly, programming, and repeated testing to complete a working robot — experiencing the full roughly 100-hour cycle themselves.
Each team will be provided with Angel Robotics' "phact" actuator, which serves as the robot's joints and muscles, and NVIDIA's Jetson AGX, which functions as the robot's brain. Taejin Technology Co., Ltd will provide training on circuits and electronic components for supplying stable power to the robots, and Angel Robotics will support hands-on training in using the actuators and controlling the robots.
Participants will not simply assemble a finished kit — they will design the robot's shape and movement from the ground up and build it themselves.
For fairness, the mission will be revealed only at the start of the hackathon on August 5. There is no single correct answer or predetermined robot form. Each team will interpret the same mission differently, combining mechanical structure, circuitry, AI, and control software into a single robot. One of the highlights will be seeing the different solutions the ten teams develop in response to the same mission.
The final day, August 8, will be an open Physical AI festival that welcomes the general public. A public conference at the KI Building (E4) Fusion Hall will introduce the current state of Physical AI in an accessible and engaging way — from robotic skin that lets robots feel touch like humans, to humanoid robots that can see and hear people, to a quadrupedal robot that has completed a marathon.
Professors Jung Kim, Yong-Hwa Park, and Jemin Hwangbo of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, along with Joon-Ha Kim, CEO of Diden Robotics, will each give a talk on robotic skin and haptics, multimodal perception in humanoid robots, the quadrupedal robot Raibo, and the journey of developing Physical AI for industrial use, respectively.
After the conference, an open demo day for the ten participating teams will run from 4 to 5 p.m. at KAIST's Culture Complex (E9), 3rd floor. Members of the public will be able to visit each team's booth, watch the robots the students built over 100 hours in action, and submit their own evaluations via QR code.
Judging criteria include mission achievement, technical execution, creativity, and presentation and demonstration. The final score will weight faculty advisor evaluation at 30%, peer evaluation among hackathon participants at 30%, sponsor judging panel evaluation at 30%, and pre-registered public attendee evaluation at 10%.
Angel Robotics and Taejin Technology are taking part as core technology partners, providing equipment and training. Faculty members and industry experts are providing education and technical guidance so that students can safely handle equipment used in real research and industrial settings.
"Physical AI's competitiveness comes not just from software but from hardware and control technology," said Kyoungchul Kong, Professor from Mechanical Engineering at KAIST and Head of the Future Technology Institute at Angel Robotics. "This hackathon will show that with high-performance robot components and the right development environment in place, even undergraduates can turn their imagination into a working robot in 100 hours," he added.
"This hackathon is about learning and building together, rather than competing between schools," said Yeonsu An, President of RoboticUS (and President of MR, KAIST's robotics club). "We hope the general public will get to experience the robots students have built firsthand and take part in the judging, coming away with the sense that Physical AI is a technology anyone can understand and enjoy — not just something for experts," she added.
“Although we do not yet know what the challenge will be, I am most looking forward to gathering in one place and developing robots together,” said Hyeontae Jeon, a participating student from Seoul National University. “It will be even more meaningful to work through challenges across university boundaries and present the robots we built ourselves to the public.”
The public conference is open to anyone through pre-registration. Pre-registered attendees can watch the lectures, view the open demo day, and take part in on-site judging. Registration is available on the RoboticUS official website or on Event-us, under "First Robot Hackathon – Robot & AI Public Conference (KAIST × SNU)." Registration closes August 6.
2026.08.04 View 4530 -
KAIST Develops Marine Carbon Removal Technology That Turns Carbon Dioxide in Seawater into “Stone” for Permanent Storage
A new pathway has opened to enhance the ocean’s natural ability to clean the planet. KAIST researchers have developed a technology that converts carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater into “stone,” or minerals, preventing it from returning to the atmosphere and enabling permanent storage. The achievement is expected to help the ocean absorb more carbon dioxide and accelerate the commercialization of next-generation marine carbon removal technologies.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced that a research team led by Professor Dong-Yeun Koh from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in collaboration with Professor T. Alan Hatton’s group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has developed an electrochemical dissolved ocean carbon removal (e-DOC) technology that converts carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater into calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), a stable mineral form, enabling virtually permanent carbon storage.
The ocean is the planet’s largest carbon reservoir, absorbing about 30% of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity. Just as water naturally refills a large container when some is removed, removing carbon dioxide from seawater enables the ocean to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The research team developed a technology that converts dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), the carbon species dissolved in seawater, into a mineral form that does not return to the atmosphere. Once stored in this form, the carbon is effectively prevented from returning to the air, allowing the ocean to continue absorbing new carbon dioxide. Such technologies are gaining attention as key carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions for responding to climate change.
However, conventional technologies have faced a major challenge: mineral scaling. Much like limescale building up inside a kettle, minerals such as calcium carbonate adhere to electrode surfaces and clog the system. As operation continues, performance declines, requiring frequent cleaning or replacement of components and increasing both energy consumption and maintenance costs.
To overcome this issue, the research team developed a hollow fiber electrode assembly (HFEA), a device composed of bundled hollow, thread-like electrodes. In this structure, minerals form outside the electrode surface rather than directly on it, while hydrogen bubbles naturally generated during the reaction act like a brush, continuously cleaning the electrode surface and preventing mineral buildup.
In experiments using Jeju lava seawater, the team successfully operated the device continuously and stably for more than 120 hours. The system removed 80–90% of dissolved inorganic carbon from seawater and reduced electricity consumption by up to 54% compared with existing technologies. In addition, the process simultaneously produced high-purity hydrogen (H₂) and magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)₂), a material used in eco-friendly products and industrial applications, further improving its economic potential.
The newly developed device can be produced in a compact, modular form, making it suitable for installation on ships, offshore plants, and other marine industrial facilities. The research team expects the technology to be scaled up into large-scale marine carbon removal systems that can contribute to achieving carbon neutrality and responding to climate change.
Professor Dong-Yeun Koh said, “This technology converts carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater into a mineral form that does not return to the atmosphere, enabling permanent storage and helping the ocean continuously absorb new carbon dioxide,” adding, “We expect this work to accelerate the commercialization of marine carbon removal technologies and contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society.”
This study was co-led by KAIST Ph.D. candidate Inhwan Park of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Dr. Young Hun Lee of MIT, who received his Ph.D. from KAIST in 2023 and is currently affiliated with the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT, as co-first authors. The paper was published online on June 19, 2026, in the international journal Advanced Energy Materials.
Paper title: A Compact Hollow Fiber Electrode Assembly Architecture for Continuous Electrochemical Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.71205
This research was supported by Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, as well as the Global C.L.E.A.N. Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
2026.08.04 View 3060 -
KAIST and NVIDIA Launch Human Physical AI NVAITC
A new era of Physical AI is taking shape, enabling wearable robots and humanoids to understand and predict human movement and achieve more precise control. KAIST, which possesses world-class research capabilities in wearable robotics, and NVIDIA will collaborate to develop a Human Motion Foundation Model that enables AI to learn human movement and physical intelligence.
KAIST, led by President Choongsik Bae, announced on July 25 that it will establish a NVIDIA AI Technology Center (NVAITC) with NVIDIA to advance collaborative research in Physical AI.
As the Korean government advances Physical AI as a key national initiative for the country’s future, the collaboration aims to secure core technologies for next-generation Physical AI by combining KAIST’s human-centered robotics technologies and real-world human motion data with NVIDIA AI technologies and global research network.
The collaboration will be carried out through the establishment of the Human Physical AI NVAITC by the KAIST Department of Mechanical Engineering and NVIDIA. The Human Physical AI Research Center at the KAIST Department of Mechanical Engineering will serve as the core research hub for the NVAITC . Building on this foundation, the two organizations plan to progressively expand the scope of their collaboration across the full spectrum of Physical AI, including wearable robots, humanoids, digital twins, and manufacturing.
“Competitiveness in the era of Physical AI will depend not simply on AI itself, but on domain-specific technologies and data grounded in a deep understanding of humans and robots,” said KAIST President Choongsik Bae. “By combining KAIST’s accumulated expertise in human-centered research with NVIDIA’s world-leading AI infrastructure and physical AI technologies, we will realize Physical AI that better understands and supports people and develop KAIST into a global hub leading Physical AI research and industry beyond Korea.”
The Human Physical AI Research Center was established around the laboratories of Professor Kyoungchul Kong, a leading researcher in wearable robotics, and Professor Jung Kim, a leading researcher in biorobotics. Professors Kim and Kong serve as co-directors of the Center.
The Center conducts research to understand how humans move, exert force, and maintain balance in real-world environments and to reproduce these capabilities through AI and robotics. In particular, the large-scale human motion data and gait and movement control technologies accumulated through wearable robotics research are regarded as a critical foundation for developing human-centered Physical AI.
Co-director Professor Kyoungchul Kong is a world-renowned researcher in wearable robotics who has developed robotic technologies for gait assistance and rehabilitation. Through Angel Robotics, a company he founded, he has also led the commercialization of wearable robotics by translating research outcomes into real-world products and services. Through the NVAITC , Professor Kong will lead the development of the Human Motion Foundation Model based on the human motion data and robotic control technologies accumulated by his research team.
On NVIDIA’s side, Charles Cheung, Senior Manager at the NVIDIA AI Technology Center (NVAITC), will participate by providing expert technical consultation and developer support. The NVAITC will also operate research and educational programs using NVIDIA Omniverse and digital twin platforms.
“The KAIST Human Physical AI Research Center has world-class human motion data and research capabilities in wearable robotics,” said Charles Cheung. “This research, which seeks to reproduce human movement through AI, is expected to open new possibilities for Physical AI.”
To ensure the systematic operation of the collaborative research, the two organizations will establish a Steering Committee and review research goals and progress every six months. They also plan to hold an annual international symposium that will bring together researchers from Korea and abroad to share the latest research outcomes and industry trends in Physical AI.
A Student Ambassador Program will also be offered to KAIST students. Through the program, NVIDIA experts will provide lectures and regular office hours and carry out projects with participating students.
The first cohort is expected to consist of five to 10 students. Participants will receive training focused on NVIDIA Omniverse and digital twin technologies and will be awarded certificates upon completion of the program.
The primary objective of the first phase of the collaborative research is to develop a Human Motion Foundation Model.
The Human Motion Foundation Model is a generative AI-based model trained on large-scale human motion data to understand, predict, and generate a wide range of human movements. It is expected to serve as a core enabling technology that will allow wearable robots and humanoids to more accurately identify users’ intentions and movements and respond more naturally.
The technologies developed through the NVAITC are expected to be applied not only to wearable robots that support the rehabilitation and daily lives of people with gait impairments, but also to humanoids that work alongside humans, human movement assessment, and digital healthcare.
Ultimately, the researchers aim to explain from an AI perspective how humans plan movement and control their muscles and joints. Based on this understanding, they seek to create next-generation robotic systems that help people overcome gait impairments and expand human physical capabilities.
The collaboration is also significant because its impact is expected to extend beyond an individual research project and contribute to the broader Physical AI industrial ecosystem in Korea.
Co-directors Professors Jung Kim and Kyoungchul Kong are currently leading in a Deep Tech Scale-up Valley project in the field of Physical AI. By combining Angel Robotics’ experience in technology commercialization, KAIST’s capabilities in robotics, mechanical engineering, and AI, and NVIDIA’s AI technologies and global professional network, the collaboration is expected to support a broad range of activities spanning research and development, talent cultivation, startup support, and technology commercialization.
“This collaboration will provide an important opportunity to take AI research in the Department of Mechanical Engineering to the next level,” said Professor Hyung-Soon Park, Head of the KAIST Department of Mechanical Engineering. “Centered around the Human Physical AI Research Center, we will expand Physical AI research into nationally strategic industries, including robotics and manufacturing.”
2026.07.26 View 6073