At the LG Electronics booth at “IFA 2026,” Europe’s largest home appliance and information technology (IT) trade show visited on the 5th (local time). Upon entering the exhibition hall, orchestra music played as a large kinetic light-emitting diode (LED) display, 16 meters wide and 4 meters high, opened, and in the center of the stage the home robot “LG CLOi-D” appeared as the “orchestra conductor.” As CLOi-D moved its arms, lights turned on in sequence on 31 home appliances arranged in a semicircle, including refrigerators, washing machines, OLED TVs and air conditioners. It was a visual representation of LG Electronics’ “Zero Labor Home” concept, in which CLOi-D “oversees” a variety of home appliances connected by artificial intelligence (AI).

LG Electronics expects that “robots” will become the core form factor of future homes, and plans to use IFA 2026 as a starting point to expand its business scope across the entire robot ecosystem, from robot platforms to components such as actuators. Baek Seung-tae, head of the HS Business Division at LG Electronics, stated at an IFA 2026 press conference held in Berlin, Germany, on the 5th, “In the final stage of the Zero Labor Home, where each appliance understands customers’ lives, makes its own decisions and executes, robots will reach their peak.” Baek added, “The Zero Labor Home is where physical AI, such as robots, independently recognizes customers’ situations and provides services in a one-stop manner,” explaining, “We are in the execution phase of implementing the entire process of doing laundry—from putting in and moving the clothes—so that it functions like a single product.”

To this end, LG Electronics plans to develop diverse form factors and gradually expand their application from industrial sites to homes. Following the wheel-type CLOi-D unveiled at CES earlier this year, the company is also preparing a humanoid robot platform that walks on two legs like a human. The robots secured will first be deployed at industrial sites for safety verification. Humanoids and other robots will soon be placed at the Tennessee plant in the United States and the smart factory in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, for demonstration testing. From around 2030, when demand for physical AI is expected to surge, LG plans to enter the home robot market, where strict safety control is required.

Cooperation with external big tech companies and consolidation of internal capabilities will proceed in parallel. In partnership with NVIDIA, the world’s No. 1 AI semiconductor company, LG is co-developing a next-generation bipedal humanoid robot, targeting public disclosure in the first quarter of next year (January–March). The company has also established a “One LG” system that brings together group-wide capabilities in batteries (LG Energy Solution), sensors (LG Innotek), and software (LG CNS). Based on this, LG intends to counter the offensive from Chinese robot manufacturers, which are ahead in certain functions such as real-world driving technology, by focusing on product completeness and technological strength.

LG Electronics is commercializing not only finished robots but also key components directly. The HS Business Division is responsible for actuators that move joints such as the arms and legs of robots. Baek said, “We have been working with motors for 60 years,” adding, “We have the technology to make them more than 30% lighter than our competitors’.” The company is also pushing ahead with mass production and orders for actuators. Baek stated, “We will soon set up a fully automated actuator line at the Changwon plant,” and “We are currently engaged in order-taking activities with several big tech companies.” He went on to say, “Within one to two years, we expect to reach a sales level comparable to our current external sales of compressors.”

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