Hyundai Motor Group denied a media report that Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, who marked his fourth anniversary in the post, would visit the group's Metaplant America (HMGMA) in the United States.
A news outlet reported on the 27th that Lee would visit HMGMA, Hyundai Motor Group's U.S. production base, together with executives from Samsung's Device eXperience (DX) division. The report said DX executives and staff handling the robotics business have been closely studying overseas smart factories and sites where robots are deployed, and that the HMGMA visit was an extension of those efforts.
A Hyundai Motor Group official said the report was groundless and that no such schedule existed.
HMGMA is the front line of Hyundai Motor Group's push to deploy humanoid robots. The group plans to introduce Boston Dynamics' Atlas for parts sequencing work from 2028, and envisions putting Atlas into parts assembly processes from 2030.
HMGMA, which has built annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles, operates automation equipment including autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Hyundai Motor Group plans to expand capacity to 500,000 vehicles by 2028, partly by raising its level of automation.
Automation and the shift to artificial intelligence in manufacturing are areas Lee has taken a particular interest in. On the same day, Lee was scheduled to visit the RX Business Promotion Office at Samsung Electronics' research and development campus in Umyeon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, to review progress on the development of Samsung's own humanoid robot.
