K-pop's AI Expansion Brings Synthetic Voices, Virtual Stars and Dancing Robots

From Six Languages to a Robot on Stage

A song released in six languages, a virtual group selling more than 560,000 albums in a week, and a humanoid robot dancing to G-Dragon's "Power" show how widely artificial intelligence has spread through K-pop. By January 22, 2026, South Korea's entertainment companies are applying the technology to voices, performances, fictional worlds and conversations with fans.

Hybe, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment, the industry's "Big Four," have taken different routes. Hybe bought voice technology, SM built avatars into an idol group's identity, JYP reorganized a subsidiary around technology, and YG pursued commercial partnerships through YG Plus. Beyond those agencies, Galaxy Corporation is developing robots intended to perform on physical stages.

The shift comes three years after the global commercialization of generative AI accelerated. Generative AI creates material such as audio, images or text. For an industry built around polished performances and tightly managed artist development, it offers ways to reduce production costs, reach more audiences and work around the physical limits of human performers.

Several different kinds of entertainment now sit under the same broad discussion. Syndi8 uses vocals generated entirely by AI. Plave puts real performers behind animated characters. Aespa combines human members with fictional AI counterparts. Each model gives people and technology different responsibilities, making the details of how a group works central to understanding its appeal and its business.

South Korea Builds the Computing Foundation

South Korea's wider technology strategy provides the setting for these experiments. The country has committed to securing 260,000 graphics processing units, or GPUs, to support what industry leaders call "Sovereign AI." These processors supply computing power for developing and running AI systems, allowing local companies to build proprietary models instead of relying solely on foreign technology.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is collaborating with technology companies including NVIDIA to build that domestic foundation. Modernizing the infrastructure supports applications that require large amounts of computing power and data transmission, including the kinds of AI services entertainment companies are exploring.

"Enter-Tech," a combination of entertainment and technology, has become a name for this business direction. Agencies are treating AI less as a futuristic experiment and more as part of music production, artist development and fan engagement. Human creativity remains part of the process, while machines take on tasks ranging from voice processing to managing large volumes of interaction.

Adoption still carries practical costs. A Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy survey found that 37.1 percent of Korean companies use AI. Businesses cited shortages of skilled personnel and high investment costs as major obstacles. Those constraints help explain why agencies differ over whether to develop systems themselves, acquire technology companies or work through partners.

Hybe Puts Voice Technology at the Center

Hybe has pursued the most aggressive technical strategy among the four major agencies. Under Chair Bang Si-hyuk, it formally adopted the "Enter-Tech" label and acquired a majority stake in AI audio startup Supertone in early 2023. The purchase brought advanced voice synthesis and sound design tools into the company.

"Masquerade," the debut single by Midnatt, an alter ego of singer Lee Hyun, demonstrated how those tools could work. AI corrected pronunciation and intonation across six languages, including Korean, English, Japanese and Spanish. The process supported a simultaneous global release with vocal delivery approaching that of native speakers, without requiring Lee to record separate versions for every market.

The technology also changed Lee's vocal timbre, the quality that makes a voice sound distinctive, for a female section of the song while preserving his tonal identity. The project showed how voice processing could reach beyond translation and become part of a song's performance and sound design.

Bang has described the limits of human performers as a strategic concern for Hybe. Discussing whether artists alone can continue meeting audience demand, the Hybe chair said:

I don't know how long human artists can be the only ones to satisfy human needs and human tastes. That's becoming a key factor in my operation and a strategy for Hybe.

Bang has also called for social agreement on the ethical use of AI, encouraging society to engage with the technology rather than reject it. Supertone founder and CEO Kyogu Lee expressed a related view at the "Brainstorm AI Singapore" conference, arguing that AI expands creative possibilities rather than replacing artists.

Syndi8 Turns Synthetic Voices into Characters

Hybe expanded its virtual portfolio in June 2024 with Syndi8, a group whose four members are Canary, Next, Goyo and Raven. Their vocals are generated entirely by AI, taking the technology further than its use to adjust a human singer's pronunciation or vocal sound.

Syndi8 exists in a fictional universe called Nansy Land, where voice acts as a source of power. Co-producers Deja and Han said a passion for technology inspired the project, with a fantasy world intended to connect the group with fans around the globe.

The combination gives the project both a production method and a story. Synthetic voices supply the music, while the characters and their world give audiences personalities and relationships to follow. This puts AI inside the identity of the act, rather than leaving it solely as a tool used during recording.

SM Builds AI into the Idol Story

SM Entertainment approached the transition through concepts and storytelling. Founder Lee Soo-man had described a vision for "a world of robots and avatars" as early as the 2010s. That thinking took a visible form with Aespa's debut in 2020.

Aespa's concept connects four human members with corresponding AI avatars known as "ae." The counterparts exist within a metaverse narrative, a story set across connected digital spaces. Artificial intelligence is therefore part of the group's fictional identity and continuing story, alongside the performances of its human members.

SM's ambitions extend beyond music videos. The company has explored AI's role in strengthening connections between idols and fans. Lee has urged the creative industry to increase AI adoption, arguing that generative tools can bring new energy to entertainment and that AI and chatbots are changing the speed of communication between creators and consumers.

Lee also sees financial risks for creators, particularly copyright infringement and lost income. His proposed response involves blockchain technology and common smart contract systems for royalties and licensing. The approach would connect the expansion of AI services with a mechanism for tracking ownership and payments.

JYP Reorganizes While YG Works Through Partners

JYP Entertainment entered the AI race later than its competitors. In December 2024, it renamed its subsidiary JYP360 as Blue Garage, placing AI and platform technology at the center of the subsidiary's business expansion.

By September 2025, JYP had announced plans to develop its own AI artists and begun large recruitment drives to secure the necessary talent. As of January 22, 2026, tangible products from that reorganization had yet to emerge. The structural changes nevertheless marked a commitment to integrating technology into the company's future activities.

YG Entertainment has followed a more cautious route through partnerships. Its subsidiary YG Plus handles distribution for established intellectual property built around technology, including Plave, the virtual idol group created by startup Vlast.

The arrangement gives YG commercial access to the virtual idol market and useful data insights without taking on the direct technological risks of developing the underlying systems. Against the personnel shortages and investment costs identified in the government survey, the model offers a way to participate through an existing partner.

Hybe's acquisition, SM's storytelling, JYP's reorganization and YG's distribution relationship show that AI adoption involves several business decisions. Buying specialist expertise, building a new operation and distributing another company's work carry different costs and responsibilities, even when all lead toward digitally mediated entertainment.

Plave Connects Human Performers with Virtual Faces

Plave, which debuted in March 2023, offers a model between conventional human idol groups and acts with vocals generated entirely by AI. Real performers wear motion capture suits, which translate their movements into live 3D characters. AI refines those movements, particularly facial expressions.

The aim is to bridge the "uncanny valley," the uneasy feeling viewers can experience when a digital character looks almost human but moves or reacts in an unnatural way. In Plave's system, human performance supplies the action while technology shapes what audiences see.

In March 2024, Plave became the first virtual idol group to take first place on a local music show, MBC's "Show! Music Core." Its second EP, "Asterum: 134-1," topped Melon's "Hot 100" and "Top 100" charts and sold more than 560,000 copies in its first week.

Concert demand extended that success beyond recordings. Plave sold out a fan concert at Olympic Hall in April 2024. Two encore concerts at Gocheok Sky Dome followed, attracting 40,000 fans. Less than two years after debut, the group had performed at KSPO Dome, widely regarded as a dream stage for Korean artists, and launched its first Asia tour.

Those sales and audiences show that fans will invest money and emotion in performers presented through digital characters. Plave's appeal rests on human artistry combined with digital presentation, with performance quality and storytelling helping sustain a relationship despite the characters' absence from the physical world.

A Timeline of the Industry's Expansion

The move toward today's mix of human singers, avatars and synthetic voices developed through several distinct projects. Major milestones stretch from SM's early vision to recruitment plans and robot demonstrations in 2025.

• 2010s: SM founder Lee Soo-man described a future involving robots and avatars.
• 2020: Aespa debuted with four human members and corresponding AI avatars.
• Early 2023: Hybe acquired a majority stake in Supertone.
• March 2023: Plave debuted using human performance behind virtual characters.
• March and April 2024: Plave won on "Show! Music Core" and sold out its Olympic Hall fan concert.
• June 2024: Syndi8 debuted with four members and vocals generated entirely by AI.
• December 2024: JYP renamed JYP360 as Blue Garage.
• September 2025: JYP announced plans for AI artists and began recruiting talent.
• ComeUp 2025: Galaxy Corporation demonstrated a humanoid robot dancing to G-Dragon's "Power" in Seoul.

The milestones also track a widening range of uses. AI has become part of group narratives, vocal production, live character animation and agency planning, while robotics is extending the industry's experiments into physical performance.

Galaxy Corporation Takes the Experiment onto a Physical Stage

Galaxy Corporation, home to G-Dragon, describes itself as a metaverse avatar company and is developing humanoid robotics. Its ambition is to create robots that can perform on real stages and interact with fans at events, rather than existing only on screens.

At the "ComeUp 2025" startup conference in Seoul, CEO Choi Yong-ho presented the company's roadmap alongside a humanoid robot performing choreography to "Power." He described a future in which real idols, virtual idols and robot idols coexist in an entertainment ecosystem combining previously separate forms of performance.

Choi, Galaxy Corporation's CEO, said the industry's current achievements represent an early stage of what he believes is possible:

We're only at 1 or 10 percent of what's possible. We'll continue challenging what once seemed impossible to create a new future.

A physical robot could occupy space alongside audiences, shake hands and perform stunts that might be dangerous for people. The technology remains in its infancy, while the ambition extends toward autonomous performers capable of operating beyond the biological limits of human artists.

Galaxy's work sits alongside broader investment in robotics and manufacturing in South Korea. Hyundai and Samsung are investing heavily in physical AI, the application of AI to machines that act in the physical world. That wider development supports the environment in which robot entertainment is emerging.

AI Also Works Behind the Fan Conversation

BIGC is applying AI to another demanding part of global entertainment: communication. The startup operates an "all-in-one digital venue" platform and has launched BIGC AI+, described as the first AI agent designed specifically for the entertainment industry.

The service draws on three years of operational data. Its "AI Caption" feature translates artists' speech into subtitles in 12 languages during live streams, while "Artist Protector" detects and corrects offensive language in conversations between fans and artists.

For an audience spread across countries, translation can make a live event easier to follow as it happens. Moderation addresses a different problem: maintaining a positive environment when large numbers of people are communicating at once. AI agents can also provide instantaneous responses, helping make interactions feel more immediate.

BIGC Chief Technology Officer Jungwoo Kim has described AI as a means of deepening the emotional connection between fans and artists, rather than simply automating tasks. The company plans to extend the technology into fan games and global commerce services as part of a new approach to exporting content.

Language barriers and time zones complicate direct interaction with a global fan base. As audiences grow, the ability to handle millions of exchanges simultaneously is becoming a competitive necessity for entertainment businesses seeking to maintain that sense of connection.

Who Gets Paid When a Voice Can Be Copied?

AI's ability to reproduce voices and generate images brings copyright infringement, deepfakes, data leaks and misinformation into the same discussion as creative opportunity. Lee Soo-man has warned that creators face an economic disadvantage when AI companies profit from their intellectual property without proper compensation.

Blockchain is one proposed response. It provides a lasting ledger of ownership and transactions. Combined with smart contracts, systems that apply agreed rules to transactions, it could help track royalties when creative work is used to train AI or generate new content.

Lee has called for global minimum operating standards for smart contract systems covering content royalties, alongside unified arrangements for licensing. The intended result is a transparent framework in which creators and AI companies can work together and payments follow recorded rights.

The issue extends to employment. The Bank of Korea has noted that AI adoption is reshaping the labor market, potentially displacing younger workers while creating opportunities for people with management skills. For entertainment, protecting workers and artists has become part of the same regulatory challenge as supporting innovation.

South Korea's decisions will accompany an industry that exports its culture worldwide. The rules developed around creative ownership, compensation and employment may provide a precedent for entertainment elsewhere, while agencies continue testing how human performers, synthetic voices, virtual characters and robots can share the stage.

Key Points

• South Korea's commitment to secure 260,000 GPUs supports a broader push to develop domestic AI capabilities.
• Hybe acquired a majority stake in Supertone in early 2023 and used AI in Midnatt's six language release. Syndi8 followed in June 2024 with entirely synthetic vocals.
• SM built AI avatars into Aespa's identity, while JYP reorganized around technology and announced plans for AI artists.
• YG Plus distributes Plave, whose human performers animate virtual characters. Its second EP sold more than 560,000 copies in its first week.
• Galaxy Corporation demonstrated a humanoid robot dancing to G-Dragon's "Power" at ComeUp 2025.
• BIGC AI+ provides live subtitles in 12 languages and tools to moderate conversations between artists and fans.
• Copyright, creator compensation and employment are central concerns as AI expands across entertainment.