IITP 생성형 AI 선도인재 양성사업 선정New Grant from IITP

KAIST to Spearhead Physical AI Talent Development in Partnership with Lotte Innovate

We are pleased to announce that a research team from our department, led by Professors Inhi Kim, Ingwun Jang, Kitae Jang, and Kyunghwan Choi, has been selected for the "2026 Generative AI Leading Talent Cultivation Program." This prestigious initiative is hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP).

The program aims to establish an industry-academic cooperative framework designed to solve real-world industrial challenges. A primary focus is cultivating master’s- and doctoral-level experts in Physical AI , particularly in humanoid robotics, to secure a competitive edge in future industries. The project will span four years, from April 2026 to December 2029, with a total funding of 7.25 billion KRW .

The consortium is led by Lotte Innovate and includes KAIST, Yonsei University, and Inha University. While Lotte Innovate provides Generative AI foundation model APIs and specialized research data, each university will spearhead specific technical domains.

Developing Vision-Language-Navigation (VLN)-based data interfaces .

Establishing advanced simulation environments for Physical AI verification.

Through this project, students will have the unique opportunity to engage in joint research and dispatch programs, gaining hands-on experience with industry-grade data and infrastructure. By integrating education, research, and field-testing, our department continues to lead the way in fostering global innovators who will define the future of AI-driven mobility and robotics.

We look forward to the groundbreaking contributions of our faculty and researchers over the next four years.