Korea, tech giants form GPU task force to push massive Nvidia buy

South Korea has launched a high-level working group with its top tech conglomerates to coordinate one of Asia’s most ambitious artificial intelligence infrastructure expansions — the joint procurement of 260,000 advanced Nvidia graphics processing units. The Science and ICT Ministry said Thursday that Vice Minister Ryu Je-myung convened executives from Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK Telecom and Naver to formally kick off the “GPU Working Group,” which will oversee large-scale procurement

Nov. 27, 2025

SK Telecom, SK AX team up with AWS to accelerate AI, cloud innovation

SK Telecom and SK AX said Thursday that they have formed a strategic alliance with Amazon Web Services to jointly drive innovation in artificial intelligence infrastructure and cloud computing services. Under the three-party agreement, the companies will pool their respective strengths — SK Telecom’s expertise in telecommunications and artificial intelligence, SK AX’s experience in deploying artificial intelligence systems across industries and AWS' global cloud infrastructure — to accelerate di

Nov. 27, 2025

4th Nuri rocket launch opens up private-led space era in Korea

The successful launch of a fourth Nuri rocket from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, early Thursday signified not just further progress in the space industry, but an emphasis on empowering the private sector in the field. Although an abnormal signal from the pressure sensor of the umbilical attached to the rocket delayed the launch by 18 minutes to 1:13 a.m., it eventually deployed 13 satellites into orbit, though not all have made contact with ground control. It was the f

Nov. 27, 2025

Naver-Dunamu merger set to form W20tr fintech giant

South Korea’s leading internet platform Naver and cryptocurrency exchange operator Dunamu are moving toward a landmark merger that would create a 20 trillion won ($13.6 billion) fintech powerhouse, combining payments, digital assets and artificial intelligence-driven financial services under one roof. Naver said Wednesday that its board, along with that of its fintech affiliate Naver Financial, approved a sweeping share-swap agreement under which Naver Financial will acquire full ownership of Du

Nov. 26, 2025

SK hynix turns its HBM chips into ... chips

SK hynix, the world’s top memory chipmaker, is taking its high-performance HBM chips out of the server room and into snack aisles. The company on Tuesday unveiled HBM Chips, a honey-banana–flavored corn snack created in collaboration with convenience store chain 7-Eleven. The name comes from the semiconductor firm’s star product, high bandwidth memory, or HBM — the ultra-profitable chips powering today’s AI boom. Shaped like tiny, square semiconductor blocks, the chips are coated in honey-banana

Nov. 26, 2025

Samsung, SKT team up for 6G, AI-RAN research

SK Telecom said Wednesday it is joining hands with Samsung Electronics to develop key technologies for 6th Generation mobile networks to enhance AI-native wireless infrastructure. Signing the agreement earlier in the month, the two companies agreed to conduct joint research on AI-powered radio access networks, focusing on three core areas of AI-based channel estimation, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output antenna transmission and reception, and AI-RAN-driven scheduling and core network technologies.

Nov. 26, 2025

Samsung taps new AI talent in biggest reshuffle in years

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday carried out its largest executive promotion round in recent years, elevating a wave of rising leaders in AI, robotics and advanced chips as the tech giant accelerates a generational shift for the AI era. In its annual reshuffle, Samsung promoted 161 employees to executive positions — a sharp increase from 143 in 2023 and 137 in 2024 — signaling a pivot toward younger, next-generation leadership capable of steering the tech giant through intensifying global competit

Nov. 25, 2025

‘We export safety expertise, not just reactors,’ says Korea’s nuclear watchdog chief

As the global race to build energy-hungry AI data centers accelerates, nuclear power is reemerging as one of the few scalable, carbon-free baseload energy solutions — and with it, an unprecedented surge in demand for strict regulatory oversight. In South Korea, that responsibility falls squarely on the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, a 13-year-old state regulator that now sits at the center of nearly every major decision shaping the country’s nuclear future. From licensing next-generatio

Nov. 24, 2025

KakaoTalk to bring back classic Friends list next month after user backlash

Kakao is preparing to restore the traditional list-style interface to the Friends tab of its messaging app KakaoTalk, responding to sustained user backlash over a recent redesign that radically changed the app’s familiar user experience, industry sources said Monday. The upcoming update will allow users to switch back to the classic alphabetical list, addressing mounting criticism of the grid-style layout introduced in September. The redesign had shifted the Friends tab toward a content-centric,

Nov. 24, 2025

AI must be human-centered to protect public: German envoy

As artificial intelligence continues to evolve at unprecedented speed, experts from Germany and Korea are urging democratic nations to deepen cooperation to ensure AI is developed in ways that uphold human dignity, civil liberties and the rule of law. Speaking on the sidelines of the German Innovation Days — an initiative hosted by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Seoul and The Korea Herald publisher Herald Media Group — German Ambassador to Korea Georg Schmidt and AI ethics exp

Nov. 23, 2025

LG, Dubai forge partnership for smart city

LG Electronics said Sunday it signed a strategic partnership with Expo City Dubai, a government-backed development agency, to collaborate on smart city projects, as the Korean tech giant expands its business-to-government portfolio in the Middle East. The agreement, sealed Wednesday, builds on discussions held at the Korea-UAE Business Roundtable, where the two sides explored cooperation in artificial intelligence and energy infrastructure. Expo City Dubai is building a 3.5-square-kilometer smar

Nov. 23, 2025

SK chief urges ‘new capitalism’ that measures social value

SK Group Chair Chey Tae-won on Friday urged the adoption of a "new capitalism" model that evaluates not only financial performance but also the social value created by companies in tackling global challenges such as climate change, inequality and demographic shifts. Speaking at the Tokyo Forum 2025, a two-day event jointly hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies and the University of Tokyo, Chey said the shortcomings of traditional capitalism have become more pronounced as societies co

Nov. 21, 2025

Samsung revives two-CEO structure to steer chips, consumer tech

Samsung Electronics on Friday reinstated its dual-CEO management system, a significant structural shift aimed at reinforcing stability across its core businesses and sharpening leadership amid deep uncertainty in the global tech landscape. In its annual executive reshuffle, Samsung named President Roh Tae-moon — who has served as acting head of the Device eXperience division for the past eight months — the official chief of the division and the company’s new co-CEO. He will lead Samsung alongsid

Nov. 21, 2025

LG Electronics inks Wi-Fi patent licensing agreement with Amazon

LG Electronics said Thursday that it has signed a Wi-Fi standard-essential patent licensing agreement with Amazon, enabling the US tech giant to utilize its wireless communication technologies across its major connected devices. Under the deal, Amazon will be able to incorporate LG’s Wi-Fi SEP portfolio into products such as Echo smart speakers, Alexa-powered devices, Fire TV Stick streaming hardware and Fire Tablets. Standard-essential patents protect foundational technologies required for any

Nov. 20, 2025

Samsung Display wins key OLED fight as BOE settles ahead of US ruling

Samsung Display has settled its yearslong OLED patent dispute with China’s BOE, prompting the US International Trade Commission to suspend a high-stakes investigation that had threatened to block BOE from one of the world’s largest premium display markets, industry sources said Wednesday. The ITC confirmed that Samsung Display and BOE jointly filed a motion to terminate the ongoing probe following a settlement agreement. While neither company disclosed details of the deal, industry officials wid

Nov. 19, 2025