LG Electronics seeks growth momentum with humanoid robots

Screen capture from a teaser video to introduce LG Electronics's new humanoid home robot LG CLOiD / Courtesy of LG Electronics

LG Electronics is accelerating its push into humanoid robots as it searches for a new growth engine, debuting a new humanoid home robot LG CLOiD at CES 2026 as pressure mounts on its core businesses.

With global logistics costs rising and demand slowing, the company is expected to post an operating loss in the fourth quarter, underscoring the limits of a portfolio still heavily weighted toward TVs and home appliances.

According to financial data provider FnGuide, LG Electronics’ fourth-quarter is expected to see revenue at around 23.5 trillion won ($16.4 billion) to 23.6 trillion won, with its operating losses projected to exceed 180 billion won.

While sales are expected to rise slightly from a year earlier, one-off costs such as a large-scale voluntary retirement program estimated to cost about 300 billion won, are projected to weigh on profitability.

Though analysts say the setback is temporary, structural challenges remain.

The company’s mainstay home appliance sector is continuing its sluggish seasonal performance, while the global TV market suffers from oversaturation and price competition, especially with Chinese companies using aggressive prices to gain market share.

Newly-appointed CEO Lyu Jae-cheol has emphasized the need to diversify the company’s business portfolio, identifying robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) homes, smart factories and AI data center cooling solutions as new growth opportunities that the company can use to secure a competitive edge.

“We will actively leverage our strengths and strategic partnerships to seize growth opportunities and enhance our chances of success,” he said in his New Year message last week.

To support that shift, LG has created a robotics lab under its home solutions division in its latest organizational restructuring, consolidating previously scattered robotics capabilities to sharpen execution around its “zero labor home” vision and speed up commercialization of next-generation humanoid robotics.

A photo of LG Electronics' built‑in robot vacuum cleaner model / Courtesy of LG Electronics

LG Electronics’ ambitions will be on display at CES 2026, slated for Jan. 6 to 9 in Las Vegas, where they are expected to unveil LG CLOiD, a dual‑arm humanoid home robot designed to handle a wide range of household chores.

The robot features a humanlike body with two articulated arms and five individually actuated fingers on each hand, enabling delicate movements to handle household objects and promote more human-like interaction, according to the company.

In addition to the AI-based ability to independently perceive and learn from its surroundings, it is also designed to act as an assistant by controlling various appliances according to user schedules and lifestyle.

The company is also expanding external collaborations for its robotics push, working with robot solutions provider Robotis and KAIST, one of Korea's best known tech universities, while also investing in global robotics startups such as Figure AI and AgiBot.

LG Electronics is developing in‑house AI chips that can power more advanced perception and control. The company recently completed design work on its third proprietary appliance chip, DQ‑C2, and is set for production by TSMC.

The company has been bringing chip design in‑house since 2022, starting with DQ‑1 for appliances and DQ‑C for AI‑enhanced devices, positioning DQ‑C2 as a stepping stone to dedicated semiconductors.

The new DQ‑C2 processor improves memory capacity and central processing unit (CPU) performance to handle complex AI workloads and is expected to be deployed not only in its premium home appliances but also in future humanoid robots and smart factory solutions.