Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials opens AI data factory for humanoids, deploys 12 robots

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) opened the AI Humanoid Data Factory on Nov. 3, 2026, at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials’ headquarters in Daejeon. The facility will deploy 12 humanoids to collect task data for bipedal robots. The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials plans to begin opening the facility in stages to industry, universities and research institutions from the end of 2027.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials and ETRI have set up a facility that cycles through not only task-data collection but also testing on physical robots after training and retraining. External research institutions and industry are scheduled to begin using it from the end of 2027. The data and terms of use available to them will be key factors in determining the facility’s scope.

The publicly disclosed figure indicating the facility’s scale is the 12 humanoids deployed there. Rather than treating the number of robots alone as a measure of expansion, a structural feature is that data collection through teleoperation and motion imitation, training, testing on physical robots and retraining are all part of a cycle within the same facility. The design aims to feed results from physical robots back into subsequent training rather than stopping after data is recorded, and can be understood as an effort to keep data collection and model evaluation connected. The tasks covered include everyday activities such as taking items out of a refrigerator and handling laundry, as well as operating buttons and levers inside cars. The range of task areas is clear, but the volume and difficulty of data collected for each task, and the data formats, have not been disclosed. The range of tasks shown in demonstrations should therefore be assessed separately from the quantity and quality of data available for training. The current operating scale of 12 robots also does not necessarily indicate data-production capacity without information about the types of tasks and collection frequency. Another feature is the facility’s aim to develop general-purpose AI models that are not tied to specific robot models, while also improving the performance of a standard platform for South Korean humanoids. The former is intended for application to multiple robot models, while the latter supports the development of domestic platforms. If both efforts proceed, the extent to which task data and evaluation results can be standardized across different robots could affect the facility’s results. However, the number of robot models it will actually support and the compatibility of their data have not been disclosed. The facility’s opening should also be distinguished from the start of external use. The institute plans to begin opening it in stages to industry, universities and research institutions from the end of 2027, so it may not be available to external users at the time of its opening. Points to watch include the terms of use when it opens, the scope of data and computing resources provided, plans to add tasks and robots, and methods for evaluating performance on physical robots. Only after these details are disclosed will it be possible to assess whether the training cycle inside the research facility can also support external development.

For data collection, the facility uses teleoperation by people and methods that have robots imitate human movements, recording full-body tasks involving the arms and legs. AI is trained using the collected data, applied to robots and tested; the results are then fed back into training in a cyclical process. The facility aims to develop general-purpose AI models that are not limited to specific robot models and to improve the performance of a standard platform for South Korean humanoids. At the opening ceremony, the facility demonstrated the process of collecting task data for taking items out of a refrigerator, handling laundry, tidying a sofa, and operating buttons and levers inside a car. KAIROS, a South Korean humanoid under development by the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, demonstrated object manipulation and imitation of full-body human movements.