Samsung Goes Full Terminator - Spends $181 Million to Build Job-Stealing Humanoid Robots

Well friends, it looks like Samsung just went full Tony Stark on us. The South Korean tech giant, already busy running the world’s TV and smartphone game, has decided it’s time to dominate the humanoid robot space too. On Tuesday, Samsung Electronics announced it’s dropping KRW 267 billion (about $181 million) to boost its stake in Rainbow Robotics from 14.7% to a controlling 35%. Translation: Rainbow Robotics is about to become the newest Samsung subsidiary, and humanoid robots just got one step closer to taking your job. 

“WTF, is Rainbow Robotics?” - everyone reading this probably

(Source: Giphy) 

In short, Rainbow Robotics isn’t some fly-by-night robot startup run out of a garage. Founded in 2011 by researchers from South Korea’s top tech university, KAIST, these guys were building robots when most of us were still figuring out how to update our iPhones. Their claim to fame? Developing South Korea’s first two-legged walking robot back in 2005, long before Boston Dynamics made robot dogs the internet’s favorite nightmare fuel.

For instance, the company specializes in dual-arm mobile manipulators (basically fancy robot hands) and autonomous mobile robots that handle manufacturing and logistics tasks. Think of them as the unsung heroes quietly automating the assembly lines of the future. With Samsung’s cash injection, Rainbow Robotics is expected to scale up and expand globally, leveraging Samsung’s minor international clout.

(Source: Tech Crunch) 

Now the reason Samsung is horned up over this, and willing to YOLO into Rainbow, is because, well… robots are the future, duh. Simply put, Samsung has been signaling its robot ambitions for years, naming robotics (along with AI, 5G, and automotive electronics) as one of its key initiatives back in 2022. Now, with Rainbow Robotics officially on Team Samsung, the company is thrusting itself into the humanoid robot race.

What’s more is that Samsung isn’t just buying into Rainbow—it’s integrating them. The newly minted “Future Robotics Office” will report directly to Samsung’s CEO, and Rainbow’s founder, Dr. Oh Jun-ho (aka the guy who put South Korea on the robot map), will stay on as an advisor. The grand plan here is to combine its AI and software tech with Rainbow’s robotics wizardry to build humanoid robots that are smarter, faster, and probably better at folding laundry than you’ll ever be. 

(Source: Forbes) 

Of course, the other reason for this seismic cash injection comes from the fact that Samsung isn’t the only mega-corp suiting up for a robotic revolution. As we all know, Elon has been hyping up Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot (for what seems like forever), and Microsoft and OpenAI are cooking up their own robo-projects. Meanwhile, Nvidia is seeing bigly dollar signs as they are busy designing compact computers specifically for humanoid robots—because if your robot isn’t running on Nvidia chips, is it even trying?

In addition, other South Korea players like Hyundai bought Boston Dynamics (yes, the robot dog people) for $1.1 billion, and Doosan Robotics recently raised $312 million in its IPO, cementing its spot as South Korea’s largest robot arm manufacturer. Basically, if the AI race was 2024, then the Robot Arms race is shaping up to be 2025. 

(Source: Giphy) 

In the end, an $181 million bet is nothing to sneeze at. This is a statement from Samsung. And while building humanoid robots are cool, Samsung is looking to do whatever they can to make sure they’re bots are running the friggin show. And now with Rainbow Robotics under their umbrella, they just got one step closer to making it a reality.

Which, I must say, is both scary and impressive. I can’t help but think we are all (read: humans) setting ourselves up to fail… but hey, when there’s money to be made, who TF cares, amirite? Lord help us. In the meantime, keep an eye on this story and other humanoid breakthroughs that take place over the next month or so (I’m sure Elon will have a response to this), and as always stay safe and stay frosty, friends! Until next time…

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Stocks.News holds positions in Microsoft and Tesla as mentioned in the article.