Samsung increases stake in Rainbow Robotics, establishes Future Robotics Office

The RB-Y1 dual-armed mobile manipulator was announced this year. Source: Rainbow Robotics

Samsung Electronics Co. today announced that it is increasing its stake in Rainbow Robotics to 35% to accelerate the development of robots such as humanoids. Samsung first acquired a 14.7% stake in its fellow South Korean company for KRW 86.8 billion ($59 million U.S.).

By exercising a call option to increase its stake, Samsung Electronics will be the largest shareholder in Rainbow Robotics, which will be incorporated as a subsidiary under Samsung’s consolidated financial statements.

The company said the combination of Rainbow’s robotics technology with Samsung’s artificial intelligence and software will “accelerate the development of intelligent advanced humanoids.”

Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology’s (KAIST) Humanoid Robot Research Center founded Rainbow Robotics in 2011. They had developed Hubo, a bipedal robot that won the $2 million first-place prize in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge Finals in 2015.

More recently, Rainbow in 2023 opened a branch office in Schaumburg, Ill., to market its collaborative robots in the U.S.

In February 2024, the company partnered with Schaeffler Group and the Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI) to develop mobile manipulators. In April, Rainbow Robotics rolled out the RB-Y1 wheeled, two-armed system, joining its lineup of service robots.

Samsung and Rainbow pursue robotics synergy

Samsung Electronics said it will form a synergy council with Rainbow Robotics to strengthen its global leadership in advanced robotics. It said it expects the council to serve as a bridge and foster the growth of both companies by identifying and assessing market demand, creating core business strategies, and developing technologies.

In addition, Samsung plans to use Rainbow Robotics’ RB cobots, dual-arm mobile manipulator, and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to automate manufacturing and logistics tasks. The company said that AI algorithms can help these robots to learn and analyze situational data and environmental variables.

Samsung’s global sales infrastructure will also allow Rainbow Robotics to actively enter overseas markets, it noted. Samsung has also invested in robotics startups such as humanoid developer 1X Technologies and cobot maker Standard Bots.

Future Robotics Office to report to the CEO

Samsung also established a Future Robotics Office reporting directly to its CEO. The new office will focus on developing new robots including humanoids, as Samsung hopes to be competitive in this emerging space.

Dr. Jun-Ho Oh, a co-founder of Rainbow Robotics and honorary professor at KAIST, will serve as an advisor to Samsung and head of the Future Robotics Office after retiring from Rainbow. He will provide robotics technology and business expertise to Samsung’s future robot development from his extensive experience in industry-academia collaboration.

Other recent partnerships around humanoid robots include Apptronik and Google DeepMind, Figure AI and OpenAI, Realbotix with Amazon Web Services and Compass UOL, Schaeffler and Agility Robotics, and Boston Dynamics and the Toyota Research Institute.

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