Washington Forum Targets Physical AI to Bolster U.S. Manufacturing

Ambassador Yunju Ko, President of LG Group’s Global Strategy Center, framed the transition as a collaborative endeavor, arguing that no single nation or company can dominate the sector in isolation. During the forum, Ko highlighted LG’s ongoing work with NVIDIA as a blueprint for this shift. By utilizing NVIDIA’s Omniverse libraries and Isaac robotics platform, LG is training autonomous systems on data harvested from its Tennessee appliance factory. These robots are being refined to handle complex tasks like part assembly and logistics, bridging the gap between theoretical software models and physical shop-floor utility.

The policy discussions, which included representatives from Micron, Bear Robotics, and the Special Competitive Studies Project, focused on the structural requirements for scaling these technologies. Panelists identified semiconductors, energy infrastructure, and supply chain resilience as the primary pillars for sustaining AI-driven growth. For its part, LG reported over USD 20 billion in U.S. investments over the last decade, supporting roughly 20,000 jobs across the battery, electronics, and mobility sectors. The consensus among participants remains that aggressive, cross-border cooperation is the only viable path to maintaining a competitive edge in a global economy increasingly defined by autonomous manufacturing.