Kakao’s AI service Kanana aims for ‘next KakaoTalk’

South Korean IT giant Kakao on Tuesday unveiled its new conversational artificial intelligence service Kanana at the annual developers conference dubbed "if kakaoAI 2024." “Kakao’s key competitive advantage lies in connecting relationships and in the era of generative AI. We aim to offer hyper-personalized AI services that consider individuals’ context and emotions in various relationships and conversations,” CEO Chung Shin-a said in her keynote speech at the ev

Oct. 22, 2024

SK hynix CEO visits Europe to explore chip partnerships

SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung recently traveled to Europe to explore future chip technologies, meeting with key officials of the Interuniversity Micro Electronics Center, according to industry sources Monday. During his visit to the IMEC, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, Kwak met with his counterpart Luc Van den Hove and Max Mirgoli, executive vice president in charge of worldwide strategic partnerships, at IMEC, among others. “It is fantastic when partnerships are based on friendship and tr

Oct. 21, 2024

[Herald Interview] Fairfax County seeks to attract Korea’s emerging tech firms

Aiming to reinforce its reputation as the “Silicon Valley of the East,” Fairfax County, located near Washington, DC in the US state of Virginia, is seeking to bring in more Korean tech firms specializing in emerging technologies such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and aerospace, David Kelley, the vice president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said. "Fairfax County likes to pride itself on innovation, and especially innovation around emerging

Oct. 21, 2024

Naver’s AI research recognized at global natural language processing conference

South Korean internet giant Naver announced Friday that a number of its research papers have been accepted at the annual Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, one of the world’s leading natural language processing conferences, amidst the company’s ongoing efforts to advance AI-driven technologies. “We are proud to see our search technology being acknowledged on the global stage,” said Kim Kwang-hyun, head of Naver’s Search and Data Platform Division. &ld

Oct. 18, 2024

Samsung Display showcases latest OLED at Ferrari Finali Mondiali

Samsung Display has joined the Ferrari Finali Mondiali, the iconic closing event of the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli to showcase its high-quality organic light-emitting diode panels including the foldable models, the company said Friday. During the event held Oct. 17-20 in Enzo and Dino Ferrari International Circuit in Imola, Italy, Samsung is displaying its latest OLED products in a 120-square-meter showroom designed to resemble a modern museum. Among the products are a 34-inch display with

Oct. 18, 2024

Samsung to launch slimmer foldable phone next week

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker by shipment, is expected to launch its thinnest foldable phone next week to reinforce its footing in the global foldable smartphone market where Chinese rivals are edging their way up. Releasing a video invitation on Thursday, Samsung said it would introduce a new product on Monday and set the market launch date on Oct. 25. While the smartphone maker did not reveal what the product will be, it gave away a hint in the video showing o

Oct. 17, 2024

Samsung to debut advanced DRAM chip for AI next year

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, said Thursday it has developed the industry’s first 24-gigabit GDDR7 DRAM, set for a market debut early next year. Compared to the previous 16Gb GDDR7 DRAM, the new chip has improved capacity, performance and power efficiency, the company said. Samsung applied 12 nanometer-class processing technology to increase cell density within the same package size, achieving a 50 percent increase in capacity compared to the predecessor.

Oct. 17, 2024

ASML's lukewarm outlook pulls down Samsung, SK shares

Shares of Korean chipmakers fell on Wednesday in a bearish market as major chip-related stocks worldwide declined following a gloomy 2025 forecast from semiconductor bellwether ASML. ASML, a Dutch company that makes the world’s most advanced chip-making equipment, reported its booking was half the orders the market expected in its quarterly earnings, and saw its shares plunge 16 percent to close at 668.10 euros ($727) in Amsterdam. Other chip stocks also declined, with Nvidia falling 4.5 p

Oct. 16, 2024

KB Kookmin Bank to launch ‘Starbucks Account’ for coffee aficionados

KB Kookmin Bank and Starbucks Korea on Wednesday announced a partnership to launch a bank account product exclusively for local devotees of the US coffee chain. Set for launch in early 2025, the new partnership will introduce the first-ever "Starbucks Account," a savings account tailored to Starbucks customers, offering unique benefits that blend banking services with daily coffee purchases. Additionally, KB Kookmin Bank’s digital certificate service will be integrated into the S

Oct. 16, 2024

RIAD launches new AI-powered platform for booking group travel

RIAD Corporation, a South Korean travel startup specializing in B2B trade, has launched a new AI-powered trading platform called RIA, aimed at automating the coordination of group bookings between hotels and travel agents. The new platform allows business clients to save time when handling group bookings, streamlining the process from days of back-and-forth communication to just minutes. “Traditionally, the group booking process relied heavily on analogue methods such as emails, phone call

Oct. 16, 2024

Starlink services may be available in S. Korea next year: sources

US space firm SpaceX may launch its Starlink satellite internet services in South Korea next year, industry sources said Tuesday. According to the sources, the science ministry had notified the revisions of related regulations for Starlink's internet services. After a six-month period, the science ministry will launch the process for the approval of a deal between SpaceX and its Korean unit, Starlink Korea. The sources said once all required processes are completed, SpaceX will launch the s

Oct. 15, 2024

Samsung Display showcases OLED for AI monitors in Taipei

South Korean display maker Samsung Display showcased its latest organic light-emitting diode panels for monitors and laptops optimized for artificial intelligence applications at the Samsung OLED IT Summit in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday. To address growing demand for OLED panels in the IT device market, Samsung Display reorganized its original Samsung OLED Forum as the Samsung OLED IT Summit to emphasize its focus on OLED panels for IT devices, the company said. Some 300 officials from 20 companies,

Oct. 15, 2024

[Photo News] Masterpiece on the frame

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it has forged an exclusive partnership with the Museum of Modern Art in New York to showcase a curated collection of 27 masterpieces, including Piet Mondrian's Trafalgar Square, on The Frame, the company's premium TV. Samsung said users will be able to enjoy iconic artworks of the most distinguished artists in 4K quality directly in their homes via Samsung Art Store, the company’s digital curator service. (Samsung Electronics)

Oct. 15, 2024

Korean chipmakers should not repeat mistakes of Toshiba, Intel: ex-ministers

Former industry and science ministers urged the government to take a more proactive approach to support the domestic chip industry, including providing direct subsidies, to maintain an edge in the intensifying global semiconductor race. Five former ministers and chip experts on Monday discussed the future of Korea's chip industry at a special panel discussion organized by the Federation of Korea Industries in Seoul, where they agreed on the need for "all-around" support from the g

Oct. 14, 2024

[Herald Interview] JM.Wave 'repowers' pollutant vehicles into emissions-free EVs

As global carmakers rush to make the costly transition to carbon-free electric vehicles, Park Jeong-min, CEO of the Seoul-based startup JM.Wave, asks, “What about the remaining internal combustion engine cars?” The 7-year-old company holds the "repowering technology" that converts vehicles with internal combustion engines into EVs. It is also the first to get regulatory sandbox approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport after passing a safety verificat

Oct. 13, 2024

LG Innotek expands global talent hunt

LG Innotek Chief Executive Officer Moon Hyuk-soo is stepping up efforts to recruit top talent from around the globe with the goal of boosting the company's competitive edge in the global market, where it makes the vast majority of its sales, the company said Sunday. Moon recently traveled to the US and hosted the company's main hiring event, "Inno Connect," in San Francisco, where he and Chief Human Resources Officer Kim Heung-sik and Chief Technology Officer Roh Sung-won pre

Oct. 13, 2024

SK heiress weds Chinese American entrepreneur

SK Chairman Chey Tae-won's second daughter Chey Min-jung, 33, tied the knot with Chinese American entrepreneur Kevin Huang in a private wedding in Seoul, where some 500 guests, including the country's top business leaders, gathered for the celebration. Amid their ongoing divorce suit, Chey Tae-won and his ex-wife Roh Soh-yeong both attended the wedding, facing each other for the first time since the latest court ruling in May. Chey Min-jung and Huang reportedly met as neighbors in Wash

Oct. 13, 2024

Samsung SDI seeks out top tech talent in Europe

Samsung SDI invited over 60 students and industry experts from Europe’s top institutions at its tech and career forum in London, aiming to secure global talent to strengthen the firm's technological competitiveness, the company said Sunday. The Tech & Career Forum, held on Saturday local time, attracted master’s and Ph.D. students, as well as industry experts, from prestigious universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, the Technical University of Munich and the Swiss Federal In

Oct. 13, 2024

KT, Microsoft to debut Hangeul AI language model next year

South Korean mobile carrier KT Corp. said Thursday it will team up with US tech giant Microsoft to develop a new artificial intelligence model tailored to the Korean language and culture within the first half of next year. KT CEO Kim Young-shub presented its vision at the event and announced the goal of jointly developing a Korea-specific AI and cloud model aligned with Microsoft’s objectives. “Microsoft is well aware of Korea's significance in the global information and communi

Oct. 10, 2024

[KH Explains] Samsung chief says he is still ‘hungry’ for foundry growth

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday put an end to the long-standing rumor that the memory chip giant might spin off its lackluster foundry business, saying he is still “hungry” for growth. “We are hungry to grow (our) business, not interested in spinning (it) off,” the Samsung chief told Reuters upon his visit to the Philippines. Regarding the delayed operation of the company's new foundry plant currently under construction in Taylor, Texas, Lee said,

Oct. 8, 2024