Samsung acquires additional shares of Rainbow Robotics

All News 12:03 March 16, 2023

SEOUL, March 16 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it has acquired additional shares of Rainbow Robotics, in a move to enhance its robotics business, a sector it sees as having a huge growth potential.

Samsung said in a regulatory filing that it bought 913,936 shares of the South Korean robot company for around 27.8 billion won (US$21.2 million), raising its stake in the company to 14.99 percent, from the previous 10.22 percent Samsung purchased in January.

At the annual shareholders meeting Wednesday, Samsung said it will put more focus on its robotics business this year to more proactively respond to a future where artificial intelligence-powered machines will take a more important role in human life.

The South Korean tech giant "will strengthen core technologies necessary to develop various robots, and expand our product portfolio to enable users to have useful experiences (in the field)," Han Jong-hee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, said during the event held in Suwon, 34 kilometers south of Seoul.

"We will push ahead with a variety of projects this year, including wearable robotic devices," he said, adding, "We are seeking to make intelligent robots that can evolve by interacting with users and operate according to users' needs."

Rainbow Robotics is a robot platform company, developing and producing industrial robots and other robots, including the bipedal robot HUBO and quadruped walking robots. It was founded in 2011 by a group of experienced researchers from KAIST Humanoid Robot Research Center.