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The POSCO Group is allocating resources towards humanoid robots designed for handling heavy and large-scale industrial environments like steel plants. This initiative aims to implement Physical AI, integrating the company’s internally developed artificial intelligence technology with robotic systems, within this sector.

POSCO DX, a technology affiliate of the POSCO Group, disclosed on the 23rd that it will allocate $2 million (about 2.97 billion South Korean won) to Persona AI, an American firm specializing in industrial humanoid robots. This funding was provided via the ‘POSCO DX Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) New Technology Investment Fund,’ established by POSCO DX and POSCO Technology Investment during the latter half of this year. On the broader POSCO Group scale, an extra $1 million was contributed through the ‘POSCO CVC Scale-up Fund No. 1,’ managed by POSCO Technology Investment, resulting in an overall investment of $3 million.

Persona AI is a company that creates humanoid robots for industrial use, founded in June of the previous year. It focuses on designing robots suitable for large-scale and physically demanding industrial environments. Nicolaus Radford, who once worked as a robotics engineer at NASA, is the CEO, while Jerry Pratte, who previously held the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Figure AI, a U.S.-based humanoid robot company, co-founded the firm as its CTO. Significantly, they are creating robots that can perform precise operations, ranging from assembling small components to managing heavy parts, utilizing technology derived from NASA’s robotic hand. These robots are fitted with multiple tactile sensors on their hands, allowing real-time data integration to manage their movements.

POSCO DX intends to create human-like robots with this investment, designed to take over dangerous manual tasks at every industrial location within the POSCO Group. Furthermore, the company seeks to speed up the adoption of Physical AI by combining POSCO’s industrial AI technology with Persona AI’s robotic technology.