Naver Invests in Drone Firm Ubipai to Expand Physical AI Business

Naver is expanding its business in the physical artificial intelligence (AI) sector through a strategic investment in Ubipai, a drone platform company. Ubipai, established in 2014, has a strong global market presence and recently received the '10 Million Dollar Export Tower' award, a first for a South Korean drone company. The company gained international attention for executing a large-scale drone show in New York and Seoul to commemorate the release of BTS's new album.

While Naver did not disclose the investment amount, the partnership is expected to foster synergy between Naver's AI and cloud technologies and Ubipai's expertise in operating drone hardware. In the growing field of physical AI, which combines autonomous drones with AI, Naver sees potential applications in public services and smart city projects.

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Physical artificial intelligence and the expansion of artificial intelligence into the real world through autonomous driving and robotics are growing, and drones are also an important future technology area.

Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, emphasized the increasing possibilities for AI to expand into the real world through autonomous driving and robotics, identifying drones as a crucial future technology. "We expect that the combination of Naver's physical AI capabilities and Ubipai's drone technology will create new possibilities across various industries," Choi stated. This move signals Naver's commitment to advancing AI integration in real-world applications.

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We expect that the combination of Naver's physical AI capabilities and Ubipai's drone technology will create new possibilities across various industries.