Samsung, SK, Nvidia chiefs in rare three-way meeting on AI future

At Monday’s Korea-US Business Roundtable, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang held a rare trilateral meeting, fueling expectations of deeper AI chip collaboration. SK hynix, the memory chip unit of SK Group, and Samsung Electronics are locked in a fierce competition in high-bandwidth memory, with supply to Nvidia — the dominant graphics processing unit-maker — emerging as the key battleground. SK hynix is currently supplying a maj

Aug. 26, 2025

LG CNS unveils agentic AI to boost corporate productivity

LG CNS on Monday launched its new agentic artificial intelligence, introducing AgenticWorks and a:xinx -- services designed to act as “active digital employees” for corporations in a boost to efficiency. At its AX Media Day conference in Seoul, the IT services arm of LG Group presented the two agentic AI offerings that go beyond traditional automation tools for handling repetitive tasks. They analyze workflows, coordinate tasks across systems and support decision-making so that employees can foc

Aug. 25, 2025

SK hynix launches mass production of world's first 321-layer QLC NAND flash

South Korean chipmaker SK hynix said Monday it has begun mass production of the industry’s first quadruple-level cell-based 321-layer NAND flash memory chips, designed to meet the high-performance demand of the AI sector. “We have once again broken through technological limitations by becoming the world’s first to implement NAND with more than 300 layers using QLC technology,” the company said, adding the product marks the highest density for NAND. SK hynix said it plans to target the AI data ce

Aug. 25, 2025

Hyundai, Kia join hands with LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, SK On to advance EV battery safety technology

Hyundai Motor, Kia and Korea’s three leading battery-makers -- LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On -- have agreed to strengthen collaboration to bolster safety technology for electric vehicle batteries, officials said Friday. Representatives from the companies shared the results of their joint task force, which was discreetly formed in August last year when Hyundai and Kia asked the battery-makers to form a working group on EV battery safety. They had also signed a partnership to further a

Aug. 25, 2025

‘Ajeossi phone’ no more: Samsung freshens image with AI, sleeker tech

Samsung Electronics’ flagship Galaxy lineup has dominated the South Korean smartphone market. Yet despite its market share, consumers in their teens, 20s and 30s who favor Apple's iPhone have given the brand an unflattering tag: the “ajeossi phone.” Recently, however, slimmer designs and stronger artificial intelligence features have helped Galaxy phones gain traction with younger users, a shift increasingly visible on social media. A YouTube video featuring a female singer went viral recently,

Aug. 24, 2025

Apple to include Korea in first-tier iPhone 17 launch for second year in a row

Apple is set to include South Korea among the first batch of countries for the launch of its upcoming iPhone 17, marking the second consecutive year the nation has been upgraded to the US tech giant’s first-tier launch group, according to industry sources on Friday. The iPhone 17 is expected to be unveiled on Sept. 9 in the US, with preorders opening in Korea on Sept. 12, followed by official sales commencing on Sept. 19. For years, Apple had placed Korea in the second or later phase of its glob

Aug. 22, 2025

Toss offers free overseas remittance for foreign residents

Toss, a South Korean fintech app operated by Viva Republica, said Friday it will waive overseas remittance fees for foreign customers residing in Korea until the end of the year. The fee exemptions apply to transfers to the four countries covered by Toss's foreign-customer remittance service: the US, China, Vietnam and Uzbekistan. Accordingly, approximately 1.53 million people, or 64 percent of registered long-term foreign residents, will now be able to transfer money to their home countries for

Aug. 22, 2025

LX International first Korean firm certified for overseas mine restoration

LX International said Thursday it has completed rehabilitation work at the Rapu-rapu copper mine in the Philippines and received official certification from the Philippine government, becoming the first South Korean company to be formally recognized for overseas mine restoration. The company said it was granted a certificate of final relinquishment by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau under the Philippines' Department of Environment and Natural Resources, verifying its compliance with plans for m

Aug. 21, 2025

SK Group chief stresses AI capabilities, operation efficiency

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won called on employees to strengthen their ability to harness artificial intelligence technology while focusing on improving business efficiency, the conglomerate said Thursday. Chey made the remark during the closing ceremony of the group's annual business event the previous day, where SK officials and experts discussed the latest trends in global technology and future strategies. "Innovation and success can be achieved when all individual members of SK Group can uti

Aug. 21, 2025

Samsung, TSMC face subsidy-for-shares dilemma under Trump plan

Washington is reviewing options to acquire equity stakes in foreign chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics and TSMC in return for the federal subsidies they are receiving to build factories in the US, industry sources said Wednesday. The idea has rattled the industry, with analysts dismissing it as “unrealistic,” saying it reflects US President Donald Trump’s intent to walk back on grants pledged under the former Biden administration. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday openly floate

Aug. 20, 2025

Upstage teams up with AWS for global AI expansion

South Korean AI startup Upstage said it is teaming up with Amazon Web Services to expand into Asia-Pacific and US markets, while enhancing its Solar large language model to make high-performance, low-cost generative AI more accessible. Under the agreement, Upstage designated AWS as its preferred cloud provider and will use its infrastructure to build, train and deploy foundation models, the company said. It will leverage AWS' machine learning stack — including Amazon SageMaker as well as Trainiu

Aug. 19, 2025

Fescaro joins Auto-ISAC as top-tier innovator partner

South Korean mobility software solutions provider Fescaro said Tuesday that it has officially signed an innovator partnership with Auto-ISAC in the US. Auto-ISAC is a global automotive cybersecurity organization that uses a collaborative system to share industry intelligence and jointly respond to cyber threats. About 80 global companies are participating, including the three major American automakers, including General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. Other global automakers such as Toyota and Hyun

Aug. 19, 2025

Samsung, LG stand to benefit as BOE faces US OLED ban

Chinese display giant BOE Technology Group is on the verge of being pushed out of the US OLED market after a string of legal defeats to Samsung Display, a shift that could strengthen Samsung and LG’s grip on the high-value organic light-emitting diode supply chain. According to industry sources on Tuesday, the US International Trade Commission issued a limited exclusion order in July, barring BOE from exporting certain OLED products to the US for 14 years and eight months. The preliminary ruling

Aug. 19, 2025

Wrtn Technologies integrates LG’s Exaone for AI education

Wrtn Technologies, a Korean AI startup said Tuesday that it has partnered with LG AI Research to integrate the institute's flagship large language model, Exaone, into its platform as part of a national project to boost AI literacy across South Korea. Under the partnership, the two companies will collaborate on applying AI technologies and content in education, designing and operating services to improve AI literacy and building a real-world testing and deployment environment for AI, Wrtn said. “

Aug. 19, 2025

S. Korean workers are embracing AI faster than internet, or any tech before: study

More than half of South Korea’s workforce is using generative artificial intelligence at their jobs, twice the rate seen in the US, according to a new extensive survey published Monday by the Bank of Korea. The surge comes as ChatGPT continues to catch on worldwide. Earlier in August, OpenAI released its new GPT-5 model and announced that weekly active users of ChatGPT had reached 700 million. That represents a more than fourfold increase compared with a year ago. But South Korea stands out as o

Aug. 19, 2025