MOBILUS

Mobilus Inc., a company specializing in autonomous mobility solutions, has been selected for a Regional Innovation Cluster Collaborative R&D Project by Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT.

The project is officially titled "Development of an AI-Based Autonomous Driving & Autonomous Operation Tractor Controller with Ultra-Low Latency Remote Supervision." The project spans 33 months from April 2026 to December 2028, with a total budget of KRW 2.93 billion (KRW 2.3 billion government-funded).

The project is led by Mobilus in consortium with the Gyeongbuk IT Convergence Industry Technology Institute and Kyungpook National University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation.

■ Background and Objectives

 Korea's agricultural sector faces a growing labor shortage driven by rural population decline and an aging workforce, accelerating the need for smart farming technologies. At the same time, AI-only autonomous systems have inherent limitations in handling edge cases in unstructured farmland environments, making the integration of real-time remote intervention a critical industry requirement.

Against this backdrop, the project aims to develop an integrated system combining RTK-GNSS, IMU, Radar, Camera, AI, and 5G ultra-low latency video communication technologies to deliver:

▲an autonomous driving and autonomous operation tractor controller

▲an ultra-low latency remote control system

▲a unified AI training and deployment platform

■ Key Technical Deliverables

 On the hardware side, the project will develop an Automotive-grade, high-performance Edge AI controller combining the processor with Dual NPUs, integrated with a 5G network module, high-resolution cameras, and radar sensors.

 On the software side, the team will advance algorithms targeting automated farmland recognition accuracy above 90%, path-following error below 7 cm, and emergency stop time within 2 seconds.

 For remote control capabilities, the project targets ultra-low latency video streaming of under 200ms and a 98% success rate for transitioning from emergency stop to remote control intervention, built on a WebRTC-based unified teleoperation platform.

 On the AI infrastructure side, a MLOps environment and an integrated data collection, processing, and labeling management server will be established, targeting quantized model performance of 95%+ for Object Detection and 90%+ for Semantic Segmentation.

CEO ByongHo Cho stated, "The integration of autonomous driving technology with ultra-low latency remote control is the key to ensuring the safety and continuity of AI systems in real-world agricultural environments," adding, "Through this project, we aim to become the leading provider of a Physical AI-based autonomous operation platform in the global agricultural machinery market."

 Mobilus Inc., a company specializing in autonomous mobility solutions, announced that it has been selected for the 2026 Data Voucher Support Program, organized by Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT. The project — officially titled "Dataset Construction and Utilization for the Advancement of Autonomous Driving Controllers for Agricultural Machinery" — carries a total budget of KRW 45 million and will be conducted over six months.

■ Project Overview

 The project aims to enhance the real-world performance of Mobilus's Embedded AI-based autonomous driving controller for agricultural machinery. The company currently supplies RTK-GNSS-based autonomous driving controllers to Korea's leading agricultural machinery OEM, and has reached a stage where AI model advancement using actual farmland data is essential to achieving Level 4 autonomous operation.

To this end, the project involves collecting and processing ▲Semantic Segmentation datasets for farmland boundary recognition (farmland, edge, road) and ▲Object Detection datasets for obstacle recognition (person, machine, vehicle, silage, pole, facility) from real agricultural environments. The processed datasets will be used for AI model training and quantization optimization, contributing to improved inference performance in embedded hardware environments.

■ Technical Significance

 Unlike conventional industrial-grade GPU-based AI autonomous driving systems, Mobilus pursues a differentiated strategy using Automotive-spec Embedded AI — achieving superior power efficiency, thermal management, and cost competitiveness simultaneously. Combined with an OTA (Over-the-Air)-based AI model update system, the company ensures continuous performance maintenance and scalability of its products.

■ Outlook

 Building on this dataset, Mobilus plans to begin supplying products for tractors and combine harvesters in the first half of 2026, followed by a phased entry into global markets.

 CEO ByongHo Cho stated, "By securing high-quality real-world datasets through this project, we will significantly enhance the field generalization performance of our agricultural autonomous driving AI," adding, "We are committed to establishing Mobilus as the go-to Embedded AI solution in the global agricultural machinery market."

Motif Technologies has been selected as an elite team for South Korea’s government-led Independent AI Foundation Model project. The company plans to develop a large-scale multimodal foundation model covering text, image, video, and audio, advancing toward 300B-parameter reasoning LLMs, 310B VLMs, and 320B VLA models. Motif emphasized its fully independent architecture—introducing innovations such as Group-wise Differential Attention (GDA) and PolyNorm GLU—rather than adopting existing foreign open-source transformer structures. The company also aims to open-source model weights, code, and optimization libraries to foster a domestic AI ecosystem and accelerate AI transformation (AX) across industries and the public sector.

The consortium includes 17 participating and 12 demand-side organizations spanning model development, infrastructure, data, and real-world deployment. Motif will lead model design, while its parent company Moreh will handle large-scale GPU optimization and distributed inference. Academic partners such as KAIST, Seoul National University, and Hanyang University will support multimodal research and data technologies. In industrial applications, projects will span smart homes, education, cultural heritage, robotics, and autonomous systems. Notably, Mobilus will conduct demonstrations of physical AI–based autonomous driving and operations in agricultural and off-road environments. With the selection, Motif will receive substantial GPU and data support, and a second-stage evaluation is scheduled for early August.

Source: https://www.aitimes.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=207025

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has identified “innovation density” as the key phrase defining Korea’s presence at CES 2026.

CES 2026 will be held from January 6 to 9, 2026, in Las Vegas, bringing together innovators from around the world. It serves as a global “meeting ground” where the latest products and transformative partnerships are unveiled across all areas of technology, including AI, digital health, robotics, energy, and immersive entertainment.

According to the CTA, Korea is expected to further strengthen its presence on the global stage at this year’s CES, backed by innovation capabilities spanning from deep tech to lifestyle applications.

The CTA highlighted Korea’s key strength as its ability to make the entire innovation value chain—from research and pilot testing to commercialization—visibly tangible on the exhibition floor.

Not only major conglomerates but also local governments, public institutions, and startup clusters come together, creating a national-level “full-stack ecosystem” that unfolds multidimensionally throughout the venue.

Public-sector participants such as Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, along with emerging companies including DataMatica and Mobilus, will also take part, showcasing the diversity and structural depth of Korea’s innovative ecosystem.

John T. Kelley, Vice President of the CTA and CES Show Director, said, “CES partners with participating companies to help them achieve their business goals, whether that’s gaining visibility or securing meeting space. CES is truly a global event, and we are proud to welcome a large delegation of Korean government officials this year.”

At CES 2026, Hyundai Motor Group will participate on its largest scale ever, including exhibition space at West Hall 5319.

Doosan Bobcat, Hyundai, and LG will hold press briefings during the CES Media Day on January 5. Samsung Electronics will host its “The First Look” event at 7:00 p.m. on January 4 at the La Tour Ballroom of The Wynn Hotel. The Wynn is an official CES venue and also hosts exhibitions by companies such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Qualcomm.

The CTA explained that Korea stands out at CES “not because it is everywhere, but because at every point of participation, it shows both the beginning and the end of innovation—research, validation, and commercialization.”

Ideas originating from basic research progress through applied deep tech and evolve into consumer-ready products and services, enriched by cultural influence—all observable in a single place.

On the exhibition floor, bold ideas still in their early stages are unveiled, some of which return at the next CES as proven success stories, creating a virtuous cycle. Organizations such as KOTRA, KICTA, KIST, and KISED also showcase Korean innovation together, highlighting the ecosystem’s breadth.

The keyword representing Korea at this CES is “region.” Local governments are effectively transporting their innovation clusters directly to Las Vegas.

Busan will operate the “Team Busan 2.0” Pavilion, while Daejeon will establish an integrated pavilion at Eureka Park to support global readiness programs for startups.

Seoul’s Gwanak District will run the “Gwanak S-Valley” Pavilion, and Gyeonggi Province will foster climate tech and mobility startups based in Pangyo Techno Valley. The City of Seoul will operate a joint pavilion with 70 startups, expanding global visibility through its core innovation hubs.

The theme of CES 2026 is “Innovators Show Up.” The CTA stated, “We expect Korean innovators at CES 2026 to define the standard of innovation—not by scale, but by quality, execution capability, and a Lab-to-Life ecosystem that connects research directly to everyday life.”

The government has pledged to expand investment in civil–military technology cooperation projects and to honor individuals who have achieved outstanding results in this field.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 16th that it jointly hosted the “2025 Civil–Military Technology Cooperation Project Performance Presentation” with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). The performance presentation has been held annually since 2012 to promote and disseminate exemplary outcomes of civil–military technology cooperation.

At the awards ceremony held during the event, Ministerial Commendations from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy were presented to Shin Dong-hwan, Principal Researcher at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, for developing cooling technology for high-heat-generating equipment such as lasers; Jung Han, CEO of i3system, for developing the world’s first ultra-compact, high-resolution uncooled infrared detector; and Lee Seong-geun, CEO of Hanji IS, for developing localization technology for high-performance ground bodies used in 30-meter-class parachute drop training.

Commendations from the Commissioner of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration were awarded to Park Seung-su, CEO of Sonatech, for developing sonobuoys—acoustic detection devices for submarine detection—and to Choi Sung-gyun, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Research Center at Mobirous, for developing an autonomous driving control system for tractors using military autonomous driving technology.

At the subsequent Civil–Military Business Forum, participants announced plans for next year’s civil–military technology cooperation projects, as well as research and development directions for new projects focusing on core technologies for manned–unmanned integrated systems, including artificial intelligence (AI) and unmanned systems.

The Civil–Military Technology Cooperation Project, which began in 1999, is a representative pan-governmental collaboration initiative that has established itself as an innovation platform enhancing both Korea’s technological security capabilities and industrial competitiveness by breaking down barriers between defense and industry.

Last year, sales generated by companies participating in civil–military projects reached 190.2 billion won, representing an increase of approximately 121% compared to 86 billion won in 2020. Over the past five years, the commercialization rate has remained high at 75.3%.

Lee Sun-hye, Director of the Advanced Civil–Military Innovation Support Division at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, “As demand grows for the advancement of the defense industry through the convergence of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, the importance of dual-use technology development—where civil and defense technologies have strong mutual spillover effects—is increasing. We will continue to expand investment in civil–military technology cooperation projects to support Korea’s leap toward becoming one of the world’s top four defense powers.”