Taipei—Korea IT Times Reporting Team
South Korea brought 39 companies to COMPUTEX 2026, but on the show floor, the strongest impression came from its small and mid-sized technology companies outside the major conglomerates. Most were located in the InnoVEX startup zone and across TaiNEX, where they presented low-power Edge AI, NPUs, robotics and AIoT technologies that aim to make Physical AI work in real industrial settings.
The Korean SMEs visited on site shared a clear strategy: power efficiency, practical deployment and cost competitiveness. While generative AI has largely remained within language models on screens, these companies are working to move AI into cameras, robots, industrial equipment, smart factories and retail environments.
DEEPX, a front-runner in ultra-low-power NPUs
At booth M1311a in TaiNEX 1, DEEPX stood out as one of the most closely watched Korean SMEs. The fabless company specializes in ultra-low-power neural processing units and displayed its Edge AI semiconductor lineup, including the DX-M1 and DX-H1 Quattro.
The DX-M1 delivers 25 TOPS of performance while keeping power consumption in the 1–5 W range. The DX-H1 Quattro reaches 100 TOPS and targets more complex Physical AI environments such as robotics, smart factories, intelligent video management systems and industrial embedded systems. A company representative at the booth said the chips deliver more than 20 times the power efficiency of GPUs and can reduce electricity costs by 94 percent over five years.
Another technology highlighted by DEEPX was IQ8 Intelligent Quantization. The technology is designed to maintain FP32-level accuracy even in INT8 operations. For AI inference to become practical in low-power environments, the balance between precision and efficiency is critical, and DEEPX presented this as a key advantage for commercial Edge AI deployment.
At this year’s show, DEEPX demonstrated several industrial embedded systems in cooperation with AAEON, a specialist in industrial computers. Its booth drew attention in robotics, smart factories and intelligent video surveillance, with demonstrations showing AI computation processed directly inside devices rather than through the cloud. Under the slogan “Physical AI for Everyone & Everywhere,” DEEPX is positioning itself around the mass adoption of affordable, low-power AI.
Mobilint, focused on Edge AI inference
Mobilint specializes in image recognition and Edge AI inference chips. At COMPUTEX, the company emphasized its strength in real-time vision processing for CCTV, drones and autonomous driving, while operating cooperative booths with global hardware partners to highlight real industrial use cases.
Mobilint’s core strength lies in stable AI inference under low-power conditions. Local processing reduces latency and lowers security risks because data does not need to be sent to the cloud. This fits the needs of manufacturing sites, security cameras, mobile robots and drones, where immediate decision-making is essential.
Alsemy presents AI semiconductor design technology
Alsemy Inc. is an AI semiconductor design company focused on low-power, high-efficiency NPU development. At COMPUTEX, the company introduced next-generation AI chip design technology aimed at addressing power consumption and thermal-management bottlenecks in the Edge AI market.
AI semiconductor competition is moving beyond raw computing performance toward efficiency and reliability in deployable devices. Alsemy’s technology aligns with market demand for AI inference that can run with lower power consumption inside industrial equipment and embedded systems.
A Barristor Company and next-generation semiconductor materials
A Barristor Company showcased memory and logic-device technologies using advanced materials. Its approach is aimed at overcoming the power, heat and integration limits of conventional silicon-based semiconductors. In the Physical AI era, robots, industrial equipment and sensor networks must continuously run AI computation on site, making high-efficiency device technology increasingly important.
At its InnoVEX S0304 booth, the company attracted visitors interested in next-generation semiconductor materials and device structures. Its presence showed that AI semiconductor competition is expanding beyond chip design into materials and device-level innovation.
3D Architech and 3D stacking technology
Located at InnoVEX S0724, 3D Architech presented high-density AI chip packaging solutions. The company focuses on maximizing AI chip performance and efficiency through 3D stacking technology.
AI chips must place more compute units and memory into smaller spaces. As a result, inter-chip connection speed and thermal control have become critical challenges. 3D stacking reduces data movement distances by vertically stacking chips and enables higher-density configurations, making it a key technology for next-generation AI computing.
BWAVE and COSMOS LAB expand into robotics and AIoT
BWAVE Inc. and COSMOS LAB showcased Physical AI applications in robotics and AIoT. BWAVE introduced AIoT and robotics-related solutions at its InnoVEX S0203a booth, while COSMOS LAB presented its capabilities in AI-based intelligent systems at InnoVEX S0304.
Both companies emphasized systems in which AI recognizes real environments, makes decisions and controls equipment across industrial automation and smart infrastructure. AIoT is evolving beyond conventional IoT, which mainly collects data, toward systems that combine sensors, networks and AI inference to make decisions on-site. This shift is becoming a foundation for Physical AI in industrial settings.
Diden Robotics and Vyin AI target service robots and robot intelligence
Diden Robotics and Vyin AI drew attention in service robots and robotics intelligence. Diden Robotics presented integrated robotics hardware and software solutions, while Vyin AI, part of Orang Group, focused on service-robot intelligence, or what it describes as the robot brain.
Vyin AI is targeting the retail robotics market with Vyin RIS, or Retail Intelligence System. In retail environments, robots are moving beyond simple mobility devices to become intelligent systems that can read customer movement, store conditions, inventory information and field data. This reflects a broader shift in service robotics from hardware-centered products to AI-driven decision-making systems.
Zalman and thermal solutions for the AI PC era
Zalman, traditionally known for PC cooling and cases, used COMPUTEX to present high-performance thermal-management solutions for the AI PC era. AI PCs and high-performance workstations generate heavier computing loads and more heat than conventional PCs, making reliable cooling technology essential.
Zalman’s cooling and case technologies serve as hardware infrastructure that supports stable operation of AI accelerators and high-performance GPUs. Although less visible than AI chips or robots, thermal management is a critical factor in maintaining performance, extending product life and ensuring system reliability during real-world operation.
Common keywords among Korean SMEs
The Korean SMEs seen at COMPUTEX shared three defining keywords: low power, Edge Computing and practical Physical AI deployment. Most were concentrated in InnoVEX, and many were pursuing strategies to complement high-performance AI platforms or enter global supply chains through partnerships with Taiwanese companies.
If high-performance platforms such as NVIDIA Jetson Thor handle complex robot control and large-scale AI inference, ultra-low-power NPUs from companies such as DEEPX can keep AI running continuously inside cameras, sensors and compact industrial equipment. Partnerships with Taiwanese hardware firms such as AAEON offer Korean SMEs a path into mass production and industrial deployment.
A DEEPX representative said, “COMPUTEX is the best stage to verify how our technology will be used in real industrial environments.” The atmosphere on the floor reflected that point. Visitors appeared more interested in how AI works inside real equipment, how much power it can save and how easily it can be deployed in industrial sites than in specifications alone.
Korean SMEs show a more balanced K-AI ecosystem
The combination of large-company strengths in memory and infrastructure with SME-led Edge AI and robotics solutions is giving Korea’s AI ecosystem a more balanced structure. While Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and LG Electronics support AI infrastructure and core components, smaller technology companies are taking on the task of implementing Physical AI with field applicability and cost efficiency.
COMPUTEX 2026 is likely to be remembered as an important transition point for Korean SMEs moving from “AI that talks” to “AI that moves.” The task for Korean companies is no longer simply to show technology. The next standard of competition will be how quickly they can commercialize AI solutions that work in robots, smart factories, retail, security and industrial equipment.
On-site reporting: COMPUTEX 2026 TaiNEX 1·2 and InnoVEX zone
Editorial Contact: Korea IT Times Technology Team (monica@koreaittimes.com | info@koreaittimes.com)
