Tag: South Korea

A Boston Consulting Group study warns that the global push for national large‑language models is largely unrealistic. The report argues that full AI sovereignty is a fantasy for most countries and recommends focusing on "AI resilience" instead. It points to South Korea’s AI voucher program, which subsidizes small and midsize firms to adopt existing AI tools, as a practical template that could spread useful AI across everyday businesses and services. Leggi di più

South Korean police have upgraded charges against a 21-year-old woman after digital forensics revealed a series of specific ChatGPT queries about mixing prescription sedatives with alcohol. The woman allegedly spiked drinks served to two men in separate motel rooms, leading to their deaths. Investigators argue that the chatbot searches demonstrate premeditated intent, shifting the case from accidental overdose to deliberate poisoning. The use of AI conversation logs as evidence highlights a new dimension in criminal investigations, raising questions about privacy and the legal treatment of generative‑AI footprints. Leggi di più

OpenAI has launched a pilot of a group chat feature for ChatGPT, currently being tested in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan. The feature is available to Free, Plus and Team users on both mobile and web platforms, allowing groups of one to twenty participants to collaborate within the app. Privacy safeguards keep personal chats and memory private, while group chats are invitation‑only and can be left at any time. The pilot will collect user feedback to shape future expansion and functionality. Leggi di più

OpenAI has begun testing a group chat capability within ChatGPT in Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan. The feature lets users create multi‑person conversations where ChatGPT participates as an active collaborator, offering itinerary planning, renovation ideas, restaurant suggestions, report outlining and other assistance. Users start a group by tapping the people icon, can add up to twenty participants, and must set up a profile for each member. The chat interface includes controls for inviting others, muting or removing participants (except the creator), and automatically limits sensitive content for under‑18 users. Powered by GPT‑5.1 Auto, the system selects models based on prompts and has been trained to manage conversational flow, responding when mentioned by name. OpenAI says it will refine the feature based on early‑user feedback before a broader rollout. Leggi di più

Meta has launched new facial‑recognition‑based safety features on Facebook in the United Kingdom, European Union and South Korea to curb accounts that impersonate public figures. The technology compares profile pictures of suspicious accounts with verified images of public figures, removing impostor accounts when a match is found. Public figures can opt in to the program, and the rollout follows earlier uses of facial recognition for ad fraud detection and account recovery. Meta reports a notable drop in user reports of “celebrity bait” ads after the initial rollout. Leggi di più

OpenAI has signed letters of intent with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to supply high‑bandwidth memory DRAM wafers for its Stargate AI infrastructure. The agreements, reached after a meeting in Seoul with South Korean leadership, call for scaling production to up to 900,000 chips per month, more than doubling current industry capacity. Both chipmakers will also integrate OpenAI’s APIs and ChatGPT Enterprise into their operations, supporting the broader push to expand AI compute capacity through new data centers in South Korea and beyond. Leggi di più

South Korea, a global leader in broadband and digital innovation, is grappling with a series of high‑profile cyberattacks that have exposed personal data from millions of citizens. The attacks have targeted retailers, telecom giants, financial services, and even government‑linked institutions. Experts blame a fragmented governmental structure, a shortage of skilled cybersecurity talent, and the absence of a designated “first‑responder” agency for coordinated crisis management. In response, the presidential office’s National Security Office announced an inter‑agency plan to tighten defenses, though concerns remain about the balance of power and the effectiveness of the new approach. Leggi di più

Meta is rolling out new facial recognition‑powered safety features on Facebook in the United Kingdom, European Union and South Korea to curb accounts that impersonate public figures. The technology, first used in the United States last year to flag fraudulent celebrity ads and aid account recovery, now lets the company compare profile pictures of suspicious accounts with verified public‑figure images. Public figures can opt in to the program, and the rollout will extend to Instagram in coming months. Meta says the move has already helped reduce user reports of "celebrity bait" ads globally. Leggi di più

Seoul has unveiled a sovereign AI program that funds five domestic firms—LG AI Research, SK Telecom, Naver Cloud, NC AI and Upstage—to build large language models optimized for Korean language and culture. The initiative aims to reduce reliance on foreign AI services, improve data security, and position South Korea to compete with global players such as OpenAI and Google. Each company brings a distinct strategy, from hybrid reasoning models and telecom‑driven data pipelines to full‑stack cloud ecosystems and cost‑effective startup solutions. Leggi di più

LG has introduced the Easy TV, a senior‑focused smart television that debuts in South Korea. The set offers a simplified home screen with larger fonts, a reduced app lineup, and picture and sound settings optimized for older viewers. A redesigned remote includes a help button, voice‑activated AI search and larger labeling. Built‑in reminders can prompt users to take medication or perform other tasks, and a camera enables video calls with family. LG plans to eventually bring the model to other markets with aging demographics, though no timeline has been announced. Leggi di più

Meta announced that its Llama suite of artificial‑intelligence models is now available to a broader set of governments, including France, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea, as well as organizations linked to the European Union and NATO. The rollout follows earlier deployments for the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Meta says governments can fine‑tune the models with their own sensitive data, host them in secure environments, and run them on‑device for specific national‑security use cases. The company highlights the open‑source nature of Llama as a key factor that lets officials download and deploy the technology without routing data through third‑party providers. Leggi di più

Samsung is preparing to launch its Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone and a new line of AI smart glasses during a South Korean event slated for late September. The phone, described as a triple-screen device, features a 10‑inch OLED display, a three‑camera system with a 200‑word‑megapixel main sensor, and a price around $3,000. Alongside the phone, Samsung plans to introduce its Project Moohan mixed‑reality headset and AI‑only smart glasses powered by Qualcomm’s AR1 chip. The move positions Samsung against competitors such as Meta’s Ray‑Ban glasses and Huawei’s Mate XT. Leggi di più

A team of South Korean researchers led by Dr. Dong Jin Ji has unveiled ConcreteSC, a novel approach to semantic communication that eliminates the need for large codebooks and improves image transmission reliability. By focusing on transmitting meaning rather than raw data, ConcreteSC offers a fully differentiable quantization process that can be trained end‑to‑end even under noisy channel conditions. Simulations show it outperforms traditional vector‑quantization methods in image quality and complexity. The researchers see the technology as a key enabler for next‑generation wireless systems such as 6G, smart factories, and AI‑powered healthcare devices. Leggi di più