A Spot robot, used for security, traipses through Hyundai Motor Group’s headquarters in Seocho District, Seoul, on May 14, 2026. (Yu Ha-young/Hankyoreh)
“Charging at 87%.”This message appeared on a robot’s screen at the robot station on the first floor of Hyundai Motor Group’s headquarters in the Yangjae neighborhood of Seoul’s Seocho District. Four robots were charging side by side there. At the adjacent lounge, employees chatted over coffee with their laptops open. In the lobby of the headquarters, which was renovated by Hyundai Motor Group over the past year and 11 months, people and robots shared the same space.Hyundai Motor Group on Thursday announced the completed renovation of its headquarters and introduced robots for everything from landscaping to delivery, protocol and security. The newly transformed space of 36,000 square meters — equal to the size of five soccer fields — spans five common floors, from the first basement level to the fourth floor above ground.
Autonomous robots have their own elevator to navigate the floors at Hyundai Motor Group’s headquarters in Seocho District, Seoul, on May 14, 2026. (Yu Ha-young/Hankyoreh)
Hyundai Motor said it reconfigured this space into a plaza where staff can freely spend time and congregate, as well as a place to provide new inspiration and stimulation. The space is for employees only and access by outsiders is restricted.This space also fits in with the group’s strategy of “human-centered physical AI.” In an interview with the US digital media outlet Semafor last month, the group’s chairman Chung Eui-sun said robotics and physical AI are “central to Hyundai Motor Group’s evolution beyond mobility.”Previously, the group also announced plans to deploy Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas into its plants by 2028. The robot station and three robot types installed in the lobby of the headquarters allow employees to experience this future strategy on a daily basis at work.Chung said he expects the headquarters to function as a testing ground for physical AI. “By seeing the robots, employees can understand and empathize with the direction the company is heading, and because the strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement in robotics operations can be reflected immediately on site, it will serve as a good test bed,” he said at an event that day celebrating the renovation.The automaker operates five robots spanning three types here: landscaping irrigation (DAL-e Gardener), delivery (DAL-e Delivery), and protocol and security (Spot). Spot is a quadruped walking robot developed by group affiliate Boston Dynamics, fitted with an autonomous driving module developed by Hyundai Motor Group’s Robotics Lab.
