[KH Explains] Will OpenAI, Korean chipmakers team up to take on Nvidia?

Sam Altman, the chief executive officer of OpenAI, visited Seoul last week to hold a series of meetings with top executives of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the world’s top two memory chipmakers, fueling speculation that the “father of ChatGPT” is in search of allies to take on Nvidia, the unrivaled market leader in chips for artificial intelligence. For Samsung and SK, being part of a possible alliance would provide a chance for them to step up their game in the heated com

Jan. 28, 2024

OpenAI CEO Altman visits Korea for Samsung, SK Hynix meetings: reports

ChatGPT creator OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, has arrived in South Korea to meet with the leaders of chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, reports said Friday. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are the world's two biggest memory chipmakers, and the latter this week said it had returned to profit after four consecutive quarters of losses driven by demand for chips used in artificial intelligence. The two South Korean chip giants are among the few companies worldwide that manufacture

Jan. 26, 2024

Galaxy S24 series set new all-time presales record in Korea

Samsung Electronics’ latest Galaxy S24 series, touted as its first artificial intelligence smartphone, broke the company’s presales record in Korea, selling 1.21 million units in just a week. After the global Unpacked event in San Jose, California on Jan. 17, Samsung carried out a presales event for the latest Galaxy S24 series from Jan. 19 to 25 in Korea. During the weeklong event, the smartphone maker sold 173,000 units per day on average. The latest presale record not only surpass

Jan. 26, 2024

LG Electronics reports another sales record

LG Electronics reported another year of record sales in 2023, driven by upbeat sales of home appliances and automotive parts and solutions, the Korean tech giant said in its earnings conference Thursday. The company posted all-time high annual sales of 84.2 trillion won ($62.9 billion) last year, up 0.9 percent from the year before. This is the third consecutive year the company has achieved record-breaking sales figures. Despite the global economic downturn and decreased demand, LG Electronics&

Jan. 25, 2024

[Newsmaker] SK hynix posts surprise Q4 profit, signaling chip recovery

SK hynix will upgrade its legacy chip fab in China to produce high-value-added products to enhance profitability and meet the demand for recovery, the company said on Thursday. In its regulatory filing on the same day, the world's second-largest chipmaker reported an earnings surprise for the October-December period in 2023, marking a turnaround after struggling from losses for four straight quarters earlier. "Unlike in the past, we will focus our investment decisions to deliver value

Jan. 25, 2024

[Photo News] Hyundai-SK partnership

SK Enmove CEO Kim Wone-kee (left) and Hyundai Motor Company President Yang Hee-won attend a partnership signing ceremony for the development of next-generation vehicle refrigerants at the SK Building in central Seoul on Thursday. The two companies agreed to develop refrigerants for electric vehicles and enhance readiness for tighter emissions rules in key markets. (SK Innovation)

Jan. 25, 2024

LG Display raises OLED sales target

LG Display said Wednesday it would focus investment on OLED displays this year, seeking to continue growth momentum after it posted the first profit in seven quarters in the October-December period last year. “The panel demand, which has been volatile over the past three years due to COVID-19, is expected to stabilize this year. … We have raised our internal OLED panel shipment goal for this year by 20 percent on-year,” an LG Display official said during the company’s

Jan. 24, 2024

[From the scene] Immersive ‘Squid Game’ challenge thrills fans in LA

LOS ANGELES -- For fans of the Netflix series "Squid Game," the "Squid Game: The Trials" immersive experience at the CBS Television lot in Los Angeles is a must-visit spot for putting their competitive spirits to the test. Spanning about 3,000 square meters, the venue features "Squid Game"-inspired games, including the dalgona, marbles and glass tiles challenges. Visitors have to pass a total of six games to become the final winner. The 70-minute gameplay is made po

Jan. 24, 2024

Samsung exec touts Galaxy S24 as true phone camera revolution

SAN JOSE, California -- The Galaxy S24 series is the "ultimate collection" of Samsung Electronics' artificial intelligence technology for cameras, allowing users to become "expert photographers" with just a few intuitive taps on the screen, according to the tech giant's visual solutions chief. Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President Cho Sung-dae, who is in charge of the visual solutions team, explained how the latest Galaxy S24 series employs 112 visual AI mode

Jan. 23, 2024

OpenAI CEO mulls visiting Seoul to seek chip partner

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is reportedly arranging a meeting with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on his trip to Korea this week, as he seeks to meet a growing need for semiconductors while reducing reliance on the US artificial intelligence chip leader, Nvidia. Altman’s upcoming visit will mark his first in seven months since he was in Seoul at the invitation of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in June 2023. The OpenAI chief previously showed a strong willingness to explore joint chip

Jan. 22, 2024

Corning glass-backed Galaxy S24 boasts enhanced durability

SAN JOSE, California -- Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S24 Ultra can withstand a drop on a concrete surface thanks to an exclusive high-strength glass known as Corning Gorilla Armor, which was developed with Corning for greater durability and visual clarity, according to the global glass maker. With live demonstrations of the new screen glass, John Bayne, the senior vice president and general manager in charge of mobile consumer electronics at Corning, presented the Corning Gorilla Armor, whic

Jan. 22, 2024

Hybrid operation key to Galaxy AI: Samsung AI chief

SAN JOSE, California – Artificial intelligence is everywhere, but it has only been in the past couple of years that people have been able to visualize what AI might be able to do for them, with the advent of ChatGPT. In its latest Galaxy S24 series, its first AI-powered smartphone, Samsung Electronics took it further to introduce AI features for everyday use, and made the complex process operate on-device via highly advanced optimization technology, the tech giant's AI chief said on T

Jan. 21, 2024

LG Innotek to suspend production at Pyeongtaek motor plant

LG Innotek, the electronic component manufacturing unit of LG Group, will suspend the production of its vehicle motor plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, later this year to relocate facilities to other sites at home and abroad, according to industry sources Friday. With the planned relocation, the company is expected to streamline operations and improve profitability. The facilities are likely to be transferred to the company’s other motor plants in Gwangju, China, Mexico and Poland. T

Jan. 19, 2024

Samsung aims to adopt AI in 100m Galaxy phones

SAN JOSE, California – Samsung Electronics will carry out software updates for its Galaxy AI to be featured in 100 million Galaxy smartphones this year, the company’s mobile business chief said Wednesday. “Galaxy AI in the Galaxy S24 series is a hybrid AI using both on-device and cloud-based AI. This year, we will introduce Galaxy AI to about 100 million Galaxy smartphones for the global expansion of mobile AI,” Roh Tae-moon, president and head of the mobile business divi

Jan. 18, 2024

Galaxy S24 hands-on: Everything you want from mobile AI

SAN JOSE, California -- Samsung Electronics' much-anticipated Galaxy S24 series has debuted to present what artificial intelligence can offer to change our daily lives. Combining on-device and cloud-based AI technologies, the latest smartphone models showed off some competitive new features with decent performances in image editing and translation, presenting competition for third-party apps. At the SAP Center, a hands-on experience zone was prepared, where visitors could check out the AI f

Jan. 18, 2024

[Photo News] 7th Apple store in Korea

Apple Korea on Thursday said that Apple Hongdae, the iPhone maker's seventh retail store in Korea and 100th store globally, will start operation at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Located near the bustling Hongdae subway station in western Seoul, the new store will have some 100 staff to assist customers as they explore the latest Apple products in multiple languages, including Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese.

Jan. 18, 2024

Samsung unveils AI-powered Galaxy, sets out to create new standards

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled the new flagship Galaxy S24 smartphone, its first smartphone powered by artificial intelligence, bringing generative AI to the everyday life of its users. The South Korean tech giant held its Galaxy Unpacked 2024 event at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, with some 2,000 journalists and industry people in attendance. It is the first time that Samsung has held its most important unveiling event of the year in Silicon Valley,

Jan. 18, 2024

[Photo News] Maritime heroes

S-Oil CEO Anwar A. Al-Hejazi (fifth from right, second row) and maritime officers of the Korea Coast Guard during a ceremony honoring their heroic actions at a Seoul hotel on Wednesday. Eight maritime officers will be recognized this year and offered a combined 90 million won ($67,000) in cash prizes. (S-Oil)

Jan. 17, 2024

[Photo News] Samsung chief meets tech masters

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong (fifth from left, back row) poses for a photo after a meeting with 15 Tech Experts of the Year, an in-house recognition of engineers who have worked at the company for more than two decades, at the company's Seocho office in southern Seoul on Tuesday. Samsung introduced the system in 2019 to foster master-level tech experts. (Samsung Electronics)

Jan. 16, 2024

[From the Scene] SK's recycling unit breathes new life into e-waste

LAS VEGAS -- In the middle of the sandy windswept desert of Las Vegas, SK Ecoplant’s recycling subsidiary, TES, realizes a circular economy through the destruction and recycling of electronic waste. The 3,700-square-meter facility, the fourth of its kind in the US, specializes in IT asset disposition, or ITAD, which destroys various types of information stored in IT equipment -- from PCs and laptops, to hard disks and data center equipment -- in a safe and environmentally responsible way.

Jan. 16, 2024