LG unveils robots powered by Google's generative AI

Seen are LG Electronics’ CLOi GuideBot robots. LG said Thursday that it has collaborated with Google to deploy the U.S. tech firm’s generative AI Gemini to its guide robots. Courtesy of LG Electronics

LG Electronics introduced its LG CLOi robot featuring Google's generative AI, Gemini, showcasing the its initiative to provide advanced robot services with enhanced intelligence, the company said Thursday.

At the Google Cloud Summit Seoul event, LG introduced the Gemini-powered CLOi GuideBot. LG said this is the first time generative AI has been incorporated into CLOi robots.

Gemini can receive user commands in various ways, including text, voice, images and coding. At the annual conference, LG demonstrated to visitors the robot's AI chatbot function that naturally answers questions and generates photo images through voice commands.

LG plans to launch the LG CLOi GuideBot equipped with Google's generative AI within this year, while also expanding the application of generative AI functions to its existing guide robots through wireless software updates.

While the CLOi robots launched so far can perform various roles such as visitor guidance, advertising and security based on pre-populated data, they can only answer limited questions that are not pre-populated.

With enhanced language capabilities through generative AI, the CLOi robots strengthen their communication functions by autonomously generating various questions that arise in conversations with users. They can also provide natural answers to unexpected questions through searches, enabling more accurate responses to customer inquiries.

LG expects robots to evolve to perform more creative and complex tasks with generative AI. The company plans to increase its presence in the market expected to grow to $64.35 billion by 2030, according to data by Statista.

"Through the synergy of LG Electronics' advanced AI robot technology capabilities and big tech companies' AI platform technology, we will lead innovation in customer experience in the robot business," Roh Kyu-chan, head of the robot business division of LG, said.

LG has been accelerating the establishment of a robot ecosystem. The company has been developing the robotics business in various spaces, such as airports, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, retail stores and warehouses.