SK Telecom is partnering with eight South Korean “physical AI” startups to expand its robotics ecosystem, as the industry shifts toward AI operating in the physical world. On the 30th, at SK Searin building in Jongno District, SK Telecom held a “physical AI and robotics startup meeting” to discuss technology trends and business cooperation plans. Attendees included executives from SK Telecom, the AI committee of the SK Group, SK hynix, and SK AX, alongside CEOs of Gauss Labs, Real World, MakinaRocks, C-Mes Robotics, Wiro Robotics, Uilo Robotics, Config Intelligence, and Holiday Robotics. These startups hold core technology spanning humanoids, wearable robots, industrial collaborative robots, and robot foundation models. The group discussed joint pilots (PoCs) in manufacturing, logistics, and services, focusing on combining SK Group’s AI chips, AI data centers, and digital twin capabilities with startup technology. A key agenda was building training data for a robot foundation model in a digital twin space that recreates industrial sites, which SK Telecom expects to connect research-stage technology to commercialization. The companies plan to expand cooperation across robot hardware, data, and AI models through ongoing exchanges. Yoo Kyung-sang, head of SK Telecom’s AI CIC, said real innovation in physical AI requires organically connected full-stack AI ecosystems, from semiconductors to robot foundation models to application services, and that SK Telecom will lead robotics ecosystem development with domestic startups.