KT AI service robot: a telecom that rented out robots turned to leasing and platforms

Set up in 2020, launched in July 2021

KT created an AI Robot Business Unit in 2020 and formally launched its AI service robot in July 2021. It had serving, guiding, patrolling and dish-clearing modes, and KT said its disc-shaped tray and fully autonomous driving let it move safely through narrow restaurants. A customer spoke to a Gigagenie device on the table and the robot brought food or water. A pilot ran at one restaurant, a Mad for Garlic branch, from September 2020, and the electronics chain Electroland began displaying and selling the robot. It was mostly rented rather than bought: about 650,000 won a month on a 36-month contract, or 600,000 to 700,000 won according to Newsis. We could not find the maker of the launch model in articles from that time. A 2024 report said KT sourced units from LG Electronics, Bear Robotics and Hyundai Robotics.

A 650,000-won rental against a 530,000-won weekly wage

KT argued that the rental was cheaper than a worker paid the minimum wage (9,160 won an hour) for ten hours a day, whose weekly pay it put at 530,000 won. Lee Sang-ho, head of KT’s AI Robot Business Unit, said the business was not like kiosks, where installing a machine finished the job. KT bundled installation, remote control, store consulting, on-site repair, dedicated insurance and in-store network work into one service. In March 2022 KT said it ran about 2,000 service robots, including hotel and care robots. Electronic Times reported in September 2025 that KT had operated about 4,000 AI service robots the previous year.

Chinese robots held 70 to 80 percent, and KT handed its robots over

In May 2024 KT split its robot unit into a platform team and a business team. DealSite cited a securities-firm analysis that Chinese makers, including Pudu Robotics, held about 80 percent of Korea’s serving robot market and that their robots cost up to about 20 percent less. Hankyung cited the Korea Robot Industry Association for a Chinese share above 70 percent (sources differ). In September 2025 it was reported that KT was in final talks to sell all its robots to AJ Networks, and the contract became known in October. AJ Networks buys about 4,000 serving robots and KT pays a monthly fee to lease them back. The price was not disclosed. A KT spokesperson said it planned to sell the units to AJ Networks, which has robot management know-how, and lease them back to raise its service expertise.

A serving robot owners called slow

In a 2022 Newsis article, a small-business owner who used the robot said it was so slow that it frustrated onlookers. The owner also doubted that it could fully replace staff. We found no usage counts or satisfaction surveys.

Chinese supply grew, and only the service was left

This record shows a company that sold the service around a robot setting the hardware down. KT said it would be a platform operator, not a robot seller, and in March 2026 it unveiled K RaaS, a platform that manages mixed-brand robots together. According to Bloter, as Chinese supply grew and distribution profits worsened, KT shifted from selling and renting robots to building platform strength and left unit management to AJ Networks. It is worth reading next to ROBOTIS GAEMI, whose sales were forecast to fall in 2025.

When the machine earns less, what does the service around the robot get paid for?

What we haven’t confirmed

• The maker and size of the robot at its July 2021 launch
• Whether KT still takes new serving-robot leases after 2025, and how many robots run today
• Whether the 4,000 units include models other than restaurant serving robots, and the sale price
• Field measures such as user satisfaction or contract renewal rates