LG Group's Koo Kwang-mo marks 8 years at helm, pushing AI transformation with Nvidia

As LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo marks his eighth anniversary in the role on Monday, observers say the AI-centered business transformation he has championed is beginning to show tangible results.

LG AI Research Lab, which Koo spearheaded in 2020 to support AI adoption across the group's affiliates, has laid the groundwork for what is now a broader push: individual subsidiaries are leveraging their own technologies and solutions to carve out new positions in the AI market.

Physical AI — represented by self-driving cars and humanoid robots — is emerging as the next major battleground in the global AI race, and the proprietary technologies held by LG Group affiliates are drawing intense attention as key growth drivers.

Koo, who has long maintained a low public profile, met twice this month with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during Huang's visit to South Korea and allowed the meetings to be publicized — cementing his image as a chief executive fully committed to AI transformation across the group's businesses.

On June 22 (local time), executives and working-level staff from LG Electronics, LG CNS, LG AI Research Lab and LG Innotek traveled en masse to Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The delegation discussed detailed cooperation across three areas: physical AI, AI infrastructure and mobility.

The visit came just two weeks after Koo met Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul, on June 8, drawing considerable attention. Observers said the rapid follow-up showed LG Group moving with increasing agility to deepen its AI business competitiveness through its partnership with Nvidia.

Koo has consistently urged swift execution of the AI transformation internally. At a presidents' meeting in March, he said: "The most important thing is speed. We need fast execution rather than a perfect plan, so we must quickly act on even small things where the business has impact, accumulate results and spread them."

Since taking office in 2018, Koo has sold off or scaled back non-core businesses such as mobile and solar energy to restructure the group. The latest moves signal his determination to rapidly establish new AI-centered businesses and deliver results.

Since Koo took the helm, LG Group has reoriented its future business lineup around automotive components, batteries, OLED, heating and cooling systems, and sensing technology. Each affiliate is expanding its footprint in AI accordingly.

The so-called "LG One Team" — comprising LG Electronics, LG Energy Solution, LG Uplus and LG CNS — is combining each company's heating, ventilation and air conditioning technology, energy storage systems and network capabilities with operational expertise to pursue turnkey contracts in the AI data center market.

Since taking office, Koo has consistently visited Silicon Valley — in 2019, 2024 and again this April — calling on local physical AI startups to assess industry trends firsthand and refine the group's strategic direction.

LG Group is widely regarded as in effect the only South Korean conglomerate with capabilities spanning the full humanoid robot stack, from the brain to sensors, joints and batteries. The proprietary technologies and know-how accumulated by LG affiliates under Koo's leadership are expected to generate broad synergies as the physical AI era unfolds.

LG Electronics is pursuing growth in physical AI through HS Robotics Research Lab, established late last year under its HS business division. More than six decades of motor technology developed for washing machines and vacuum cleaners have also led the company into the robot actuator business. Actuators — which combine motors, reducers, controllers and sensors — are the critical components that enable precise joint movement in robots.

LG Innotek, which holds world-class optical sensing technology, has partnered with Hyundai Motor subsidiary Boston Dynamics to jointly develop a vision sensing system — in effect the robot's eyes. LG Display, drawing on the OLED expertise it has built in automotive displays, is aiming to establish an early lead in the humanoid robot display market.

LG Energy Solution, which makes the batteries that serve as a robot's heart, has supplied cylindrical batteries for Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot and recently unveiled an all-solid-state battery for robots offering high efficiency and safety, further strengthening its position. LG CNS is building precise training systems to equip robots with the intelligence needed for industrial environments, driving the commercialization of physical AI.