Hall C of COEX exhibition hall in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 11th. A dog-sized four-legged robot caught the eye. It is ‘SORA’, an artificial intelligence (AI) autonomous security robot developed by MAUM AI. When instructed to “patrol around you,” Sora began to move, scanning quickly around the LiDAR, which detects obstacles. Photographs were taken while traveling around the designated area to identify people’s movements in real time and transmitted to the central computer in the exhibition booth serving as a command center.
A MAUM AI official said, “Sora can move freely and patrol 24 hours a day, not only in houses but also in places where the terrain is unstable, such as military posts.”
The nation’s largest business tech show “Smart Tech Korea 2025” ended with a three-day schedule. Thousands of corporate and general visitors gathered from early morning at the COEX exhibition hall, where the event was held, to experience new technologies deeply permeated into daily life, such as AI and robots.
The event, which will be held under the theme of ‘Connecting the Future’, will feature six specialized exhibitions, including △ Smart Tech Show △ AI& Big Data Show △ Digital Distribution and Logistics Show △ Robot Tech Show △ Security Tech Show △ Global Supply Chain Innovation Show (GSC Korea). It is hosted and organized by Maeil Economy, MBN, and the Korea Artificial Intelligence Industry Association, and sponsored by the Korea Software Industry Association. This year, more than 500 companies set up 1,500 booths, significantly increasing the number of participating companies from last year, which was the largest ever.
Since the advent of ChatGPT in November 2022, Generative AI services have become indispensable in our daily lives, and the market is paying attention to ‘physical AI’, which means the convergence of robots and AI, as a technology to succeed Generative AI. Reflecting this, an experience center where you can experience various physical AI technologies has become popular at this year’s event.
Punjin, a defense AI company, exhibited on-device AI technology that can be used in conjunction with AI drones. It is characterized by being able to run on-device from algorithms that detect and identify enemy targets and reconnaissance to AI that derives optimal attack tactics on its own. Brills, a robot company, introduced autonomous mobile robots (AMR), welding robots, barista robots, and cooperative robots used in logistics sites.
AI solution companies for industrial and content also attracted attention. Along with AI human technology, Eastsoft introduced its AI video dubbing technology “Personotai (PERSO.ai ).” China’s Alibaba Cloud, which competes with OpenAI and Google with its own large language model (LLM) “Q1,” opened a booth with MegaZone Soft and introduced corporate AI models. ITSENPENS introduced “EdgeQ Wallet,” a digital authentication solution based on future security technology “Quantum Resistance Cryptography (PQC).”
AI and robots were also the topic of the technology conference ‘Tech-Con’, which was held along with the event. Yeo Jun-gu, CEO of Daedong Robotics, one of Korea’s top robotics scholars, was a keynote speaker and explained the flow of robot history and the transition to physical AI, saying, “When AI technology comes out into physical space beyond cyberspace, revolutionary changes will take place.”
Smart Tech Korea, which lasts until the 13th, will also play a role as a business bridge between companies through exhibition viewing and export consultations. The 5th Korea Artificial Intelligence Industry Awards, which awards companies that will lead the domestic AI industry, will be held on the morning of the 12th.
[Reporter Kim Daegi / Reporter Jung Hojun]