Naver拟在沙特推出NURI与Rookie2机器人平台，但尚未签署正式合同

Naver (035420.KS) is pushing to export its robot platform to the Middle East following Japan. Its strategy is to supply indoor delivery robots, outdoor autonomous driving robots, and the platform that integrates and controls them as a single package to target Saudi Arabia's smart city market.
According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 5th, Team Naver is considering unveiling and launching its outdoor autonomous driving robot "NURI" for the first time at "Cityscape Global," the world's largest real estate and city exhibition, to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this November. Along with this, the company plans to also introduce its indoor service robot "Rookie2" within the year, accelerating the establishment of an integrated robot service spanning both indoor and outdoor spaces.
NURI is the first outdoor autonomous driving robot developed by Naver. Featuring waterproof and dustproof design and high-temperature environment capabilities, it was developed to perform delivery services on pedestrian roads. As its name suggests—a pure Korean word meaning "world" while also carrying the meaning "my light" in Arabic—it has targeted global markets including the Middle East from the early stages of development.
Naver is currently conducting field trials of NURI in Saudi Arabia. It is in discussions with the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing (MOMRAH) and others on applying robot services to large-scale new towns and townhouse complexes. Saudi Arabia is considered a market with high demand for outdoor mobility within complexes as well as inside buildings, as most ultra-large residential complexes are built in townhouse form.
Accordingly, Naver plans to introduce its next-generation indoor service robot "Rookie2" within the year, alongside NURI, which handles outdoor tasks. Rookie2 is an advanced model of the service robot "Rookie" that has been operated at its second office building "1784," with enhanced versatility so that it can operate stably not only in robot-friendly buildings but also in general office buildings and commercial facilities. The company's plan is to link the two robots into a single platform to implement an integrated robot service spanning both inside and outside buildings.
The industry sees a strong possibility that a formal contract for the Saudi project will be signed along with NURI's launch at this exhibition. A Naver official said, "As we are formally unveiling NURI and Rookie2 within the year, our goal is to accelerate the business with Saudi Arabia as well." At last year's Cityscape Global, Naver board chairman Lee Hae-jin personally attended and discussed cooperation plans with the Saudi government and local officials. Attention is also focused on whether he will attend this year's event.
If the contract is finalized, Naver will become the first Korean company to export its robot platform to the Middle East following Japan. This means the technology verified at 1784 will spread to Saudi Arabian new towns after Japan's first overseas commercial deployment. Naver's global robotics business will also enter a full-fledged growth stage.
Indeed, from Naver's perspective, its entry into Saudi Arabia is significant as the first concrete result following Naver board chairman Lee Hae-jin's personal visits to Saudi Arabia for two consecutive years in 2024 and last year to discuss expanding cooperation in smart cities, digital twins, and robotics. The industry evaluates that Naver is moving beyond its existing overseas business centered on content and commerce to fully pursue next-generation platform exports combining AI, cloud, and robotics.
According to the IT industry, three pillars support Naver's robotics strategy. There is "Rookie2," which handles indoor tasks; "NURI," which handles outdoor tasks; and "ARC Brain," the platform that ties them together.
The first pillar is the indoor service robot Rookie2, which is set for commercialization within the year. Rookie2 is a next-generation model with enhanced scalability over the existing service robot "Rookie," newly developed to respond to demand in overseas markets such as Japan and Saudi Arabia. Its biggest feature is that it is designed to operate stably not only in robot-friendly buildings like the existing 1784 but also in general-purpose buildings such as ordinary office buildings and commercial facilities.
The technical structure has also changed. While the existing Rookie operated on a cloud basis, Rookie2 adds on-device positioning technology to its cloud base. By applying the latest driving technology and sensors, it has enhanced the robot's ability to recognize its surroundings on its own, and strengthened its own intelligence so it can drive stably even amid changes in the communication environment. The Rookie2 operating platform has also been advanced on the premise of general-purpose buildings. It has newly applied an administrator application that can efficiently manage multiple robots, as well as a disaster response mode and remote control functions.
The second pillar, which handles outdoor tasks, is the autonomous driving robot "NURI." NURI is Naver's first outdoor robot developed to enable autonomous driving on pedestrian roads based on spatial intelligence technologies such as Naver Map and digital twins. Equipped with waterproof and dustproof design and high-temperature environment capabilities, it is designed for stable operation even in environments like Saudi Arabia. Through this, it will expand delivery services that previously remained indoors to outside buildings, laying the foundation for a robot service that connects indoor and outdoor spaces.
The core that connects Rookie2 and NURI into a single service in this way is "ARC Brain." ARC Brain is an orchestration platform that integrates and controls multiple robots, elevators, entry gates, building facilities, and more as a single system. Baek Jong-yoon, head of Naver Labs, said, "Gathering 10 truly smart robots does not make a good service. You need a platform above them that manages the robots." He added, "No matter what form of robot appears, there must be an orchestration platform that connects and manages them. Naver intends to build the platform that guards that gateway."
In fact, Naver is pursuing the construction of a multi-robot platform that connects not only its own robots but also other manufacturers' robots, such as those for cleaning and patrol, to ARC Brain. To this end, it is also cooperating with robot manufacturing companies, and a related agreement is reportedly expected soon. The strategy is to build an open ecosystem that integrates and manages robots from various manufacturers on a single platform, rather than a closed structure that operates only a specific manufacturer's robots. Naver is also developing humanoids in parallel, and is considering using humanoids as a device connected to ARC Brain in the future.
The industry sees this Saudi business as becoming the first stage to verify Naver's smart city platform, beyond a simple delivery robot export. In particular, since Naver has built digital twins in major Saudi cities such as Mecca and Medina, it is assessed to have the foundation to implement a smart city operating model combining various robot services such as delivery, patrol, and facility management based on these. Saudi Arabia is considered a suitable market for Naver to secure its first overseas reference integrating indoor and outdoor robots with a platform, as urban development centered on ultra-large new towns and townhouses is active, and the country is aggressive in adopting AI and robotics. Ultimately, since what Naver seeks to export is not individual robots but a platform that operates entire cities, analysts say the Saudi project will be the first test to gauge the success or failure of its future global smart city business.