South Korea is treating 2026–2031 as the decisive window for Physical AI leadership.
KAIST president Bae Choong-sik told a National Assembly forum that the next five years will determine who leads the shift from digital AI to systems that perceive, plan, and act in the real world.
He compared Physical AI to the standardization of parts that enabled mass automobile production — a fundamental industrial transition.
The core stack: multi-modal sensing → large models → planning → motor control, continuously improved by a data flywheel.
The leap is from single-task, structured settings to multi-agent orchestration in unstructured environments.
Proposed responses include:
• Shared national testbeds and data infrastructure
• Real-time digital twins linking virtual and physical cities
• A shift from positive-list regulation toward sandboxes and eventually negative-list rules
This is how nations position for the next wave. The infrastructure race is on.
KAIST president Bae Choong-sik told a National Assembly forum that the next five years will determine who leads the shift from digital AI to systems that perceive, plan, and act in the real world.
He compared Physical AI to the standardization of parts that enabled mass automobile production — a fundamental industrial transition.
The core stack: multi-modal sensing → large models → planning → motor control, continuously improved by a data flywheel.
The leap is from single-task, structured settings to multi-agent orchestration in unstructured environments.
Proposed responses include:
• Shared national testbeds and data infrastructure
• Real-time digital twins linking virtual and physical cities
• A shift from positive-list regulation toward sandboxes and eventually negative-list rules
This is how nations position for the next wave. The infrastructure race is on.