{"id":96906,"date":"2026-05-07T15:31:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=96906"},"modified":"2026-05-07T15:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:35:17","slug":"seoul-temple-ordains-robot-as-buddhist-monk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/seoul-temple-ordains-robot-as-buddhist-monk\/","title":{"rendered":"Seoul Temple Ordains Robot as Buddhist Monk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On May 6th, a Buddhist ceremony in Seoul saw a humanoid robot take vows and become a monk.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">South Korea&#8217;s first humanoid robot monk made its debut at Jogye Temple in Seoul, ahead of Buddha&#8217;s birthday. Gabi, the 130-centimeter-tall robot, wore a traditional grey-and-brown Buddhist robe and stood before monks as it pledged to devote itself to Buddhism <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NDzDANRkhl\">pic.twitter.com\/NDzDANRkhl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Reuters (@Reuters) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Reuters\/status\/2051987843996852245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The robot, named Gabi, stands 130 centimeters tall and is a creation of the Chinese company Unitree Robotics. During the ceremony, it was dressed in traditional grey-and-brown Buddhist attire.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe tried to choose a name that is not too difficult to pronounce or old-fashioned, and also symbolizes the spread of Buddha&#8217;s compassion worldwide,\u201d noted monk Son Won, who oversees cultural matters in the Jogye Order.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cGabi\u201d means \u201ccompassion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the Jogye Temple, the robot <a href=\"https:\/\/interestingengineering.com\/ai-robotics\/south-korea-robot-monk-gabi-buddhist-ceremony\">took a vow<\/a> to dedicate itself to Buddhism. It folded its hands, bowed, and answered questions from the monks, affirming its readiness to serve Buddha and his teachings.<\/p>\n<p>A necklace of 108 beads was placed around Gabi&#8217;s neck, and a sticker was attached to its hand instead of the traditional incense burn marks.<\/p>\n<p>The participation of the robot was conceived as a symbolic adaptation of monastic customs for a non-human entity. Using Gemini and ChatGPT, the five Buddhist precepts were rewritten for the humanoid:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>respect life and do no harm;<\/li>\n<li>do not damage other robots or objects;<\/li>\n<li>obey humans and do not contradict them;<\/li>\n<li>refrain from deceitful statements or behavior;<\/li>\n<li>conserve energy and avoid recharging.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Monk Son Won described the ceremony as the first step towards the coexistence of humans and machines in cultural and spiritual spaces.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of May, Gabi will appear at a festival alongside other robots Sokja, Mohi, and Nissa.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Robotic Developments in Europe<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, French startup Genesis AI has unveiled its first AI model, GENE-26.5, and robotic arms.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6K_bGH54ltI?si=v0S988IenGP4iG7C\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In a demonstration video, the robotic arms perform long sequences of complex operations: breaking eggs, slicing tomatoes, and preparing food. GENE-26.5 controls bots from various manufacturers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe always aimed to create the best model, but soon realized the importance of controlling the hardware as well. So we decided to go full-stack,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/05\/06\/khosla-backed-robotics-startup-genesis-ai-has-gone-full-stack-demo-shows\/\">stated<\/a> co-founder and CEO of the startup, Zhou Xian.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Genesis AI hand replicates the size and shape of a human hand, allowing for more data collection for training the <span data-descr=\"large language model\" class=\"old_tooltip\">LLM<\/span> and performing an expanded range of tasks.<\/p>\n<p>The company developed a special glove with sensors for data collection. It is lightweight, comfortable, and inexpensive to produce.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cWe are in talks with many clients. The value of the glove is that it can be worn while performing everyday tasks in a lab or pharmaceutical facility,\u201d said Genesis AI co-founder Th\u00e9ophile Gervais, who previously worked as a research associate at Mistral AI.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Plans include equipping a wide range of workers with video cameras for additional data collection. GENE-26.5 has been trained on \u201ca vast amount of internet videos featuring humans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Genesis AI raised $105 million in investments in July 2025, just months after its founding. The funding helped the startup expand its workforce and operations, with offices in Paris, California, and London.<\/p>\n<p>The company plans to unveil its first universal robot with a body soon.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Robots: The Driving Force of China<\/h2>\n<p>Robotics is an area where China has taken a leading position. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-05-07\/humanoid-robots-to-power-next-leg-of-china-s-export-dominance?srnd=phx-ai&#038;embedded-checkout=true\">a new study<\/a> by Morgan Stanley, humanoid bots will drive the next phase of growth in China&#8217;s manufacturing and export share.<\/p>\n<p>Similar to electric vehicles, which became a growth point a decade ago, investments in robotics are expected to increase the country&#8217;s share of global manufacturing from 15% to 16.5% by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, bots have moved from labs to the real world: they are being implemented in tech parks, factories, and universities, aided by government procurement.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cChina has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to identify promising growth areas in advance and plan for long-term development,\u201d the bank&#8217;s report states.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As with electric vehicles, China is ramping up production capacity across the entire supply chain of humanoid robots, giving it an edge over competitors from the US, Japan, and South Korea.<\/p>\n<p>In April, a bot from Honor <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/humanoid-robot-sets-new-half-marathon-world-record\">ran<\/a> a half marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds\u2014six minutes faster than the men&#8217;s world record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On May 6th, a Buddhist ceremony in Seoul saw a humanoid robot take vows and become a monk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"A humanoid robot was ordained as a monk in Seoul on May 6th.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[438,1805,652],"class_list":["post-96906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-religion","tag-robots"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"28","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"A humanoid robot was ordained as a monk in Seoul on May 6th.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96906"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96908,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96906\/revisions\/96908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}