Ulsan, Gwangju join forces to bring AI and humanoid robots to auto manufacturing

Ulsan and Gwangju are joining forces to accelerate the AI transformation of their automotive industries, with a focus on production systems where humans and humanoid robots work side by side.

Ulsan is home to Hyundai Motor's Ulsan factory — the largest in South Korea, with an annual production capacity of about 2 million vehicles. Gwangju hosts two finished-vehicle plants: Kia AutoLand Gwangju and Gwangju Global Motors, with a combined annual capacity of 720,000 units.

Officials from both cities met Monday at the Ulsan Green Car Technology Center in Jung-gu, Ulsan, to discuss the direction and cooperation framework for the "Ulsan-Gwangju Automotive Industry Humanoid Robot-Based Manufacturing AI Transformation (M.AX) Support Project." They then visited Hyundai Motor's electric vehicle factory to observe the future of automotive manufacturing firsthand and agreed to incorporate their findings into the joint project planning process.

The two cities will work together to scale the manufacturing AI transformation support project into a next-generation AI-based factory initiative worth 1 trillion won ($738 million). An AI-based factory is a next-generation manufacturing system in which every stage of factory operations — design, management, quality control and maintenance — is optimized through AI computing.

According to Hyundai Motor and others in the automotive industry, the future manufacturing competitiveness of automakers now hinges on human-robot collaboration on the shop floor and the ability to apply production data to intelligent process management.

Both Ulsan and Gwangju have established bases in finished-vehicle production, auto parts companies, and AI and robotics research. Ulsan in particular benefits from a concentration of more than 700 related firms, giving it strong credentials as a demonstration hub for data analysis and process diagnostics. By combining the strengths of both regions, officials expect to build a super-regional cooperative capable of driving a sweeping AI transformation across automotive manufacturing.

From next year through 2031, the two cities plan to invest a total of 58 billion won — 30 billion won in national funds and 28 billion won in local government funding — to support the deployment and demonstration of humanoid robots on automotive production lines. Of the national funding, 9 billion won has already been included in next year's government budget proposal.

Each city will establish one demonstration center in its region to carry out a phased program: process diagnostics using humanoid robots and autonomous mobile robots, pre-verification through digital twin modeling, and on-site demonstration.

Ulsan and Gwangju plan to develop concrete joint projects for the AI and robotics transformation of the automotive manufacturing industry, and to build broader support among the government and the National Assembly for the M.AX and AI-based factory initiatives.