Business - The Korea Times

Non-listed firms take up nearly 70% of financial AI patent application: report

Nearly 7 out of 10 patent applications filed in Korea for investment-related artificial intelligence (AI) came from non-listed companies and startups, a report showed Tuesday, suggesting venture firms are leading the AI transformation in the finance sector. According to a report from the Korea Capital Market Institute, 67 percent of patent applications for financial investment-related AI were filed by local Software as a Service, or SaaS, companies. Of them, 76 percent were designed to be sold to other companies or businesses, while only 14 percent were intended for individual customers, according to the report. Many of the patent requests were related to AI designed for standardized tasks, including consigned trading of financial products, monitoring of abnormal trading activity and stock price analysis. AI patent filings were minimal in areas that treat non-disclosed information and depend on human networks, such as deal sourcing, as well as areas accompanied by high financial risks, the report said. "For AI innovation to spread across the entire financial investment industry, rather th

Feb 17, 2026By Yonhap

Non-listed firms take up nearly 70% of financial AI patent application: report

Average YouTuber income surpasses $52,000

Income earned by one-person media creators such as YouTubers has risen by more than 25 percent over the past four years, surpassing 70 million won ($52,000) annually on average, while the top 1 percent made nearly 1.3 billion won each, highlighting stark income polarization, data showed Monday. According to Rep. Park Sung-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party, 34,806 YouTubers reported general income tax in 2024, with combined earnings of 2.47 trillion won — averaging approximately 71 million won per person. These figures cover income reported by taxpayers registered as one-person media content creators or media content producers. The number of YouTubers filing tax returns jumped from 9,449 in 2020 to over 30,000 in 2024, while average income rose 25.6 percent from 56.51 million won. Growth accelerated after a surge in political broadcasts following the declaration of martial law in December 2024, intensifying competition and prompting calls for stricter tax oversight. Based on 2024 income data, the top 1 percent — 348 creators — earned a combined 450.1 billion won, avera

Feb 16, 2026By Lee Min-hyung

Average YouTuber income surpasses $52,000

Science minister to pitch Korea's capabilities at India AI Impact Summit

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon will attend the upcoming India AI Impact Summit 2026, slated to run from Monday through Feb. 20 in New Delhi, leading the Korean government delegation. The summit is expected to serve as a high-level platform that gathers representatives from about 100 countries, as well as industry and academic leaders, to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) governance and its social impact. This year’s event will be the fourth summit, and it is especially meaningful as it will be hosted for the first time in a developing nation. During the event, Bae plans to emphasize the importance of global cooperation to ensure that advances in AI technology translate into shared prosperity for humanity, underscoring Korea’s intent to play a leading role. He will also present on the country’s experience in digital transformation across sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing and education; its strength in semiconductors and digital infrastructure; and its policy experience with the recently-implemented revised AI basic law. “The India AI

Feb 13, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee

Science minister to pitch Korea's capabilities at India AI Impact Summit

SK chief meets Nvidia, Google CEOs to explore AI cooperation

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has met with the heads of leading U.S. tech firms, including Nvidia, Google LLC and Microsoft, to discuss business ties in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, SK hynix said Friday. According to the Korean chipmaker, Chey met with Nvidia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang on Thursday last week (U.S. time) in Silicon Valley to discuss potential AI collaborations. "The partnership, which began during the early stages of HBM development amid market uncertainty, has evolved into a strategic relationship that extends beyond supply to joint product planning," SK hynix said in a release. "SK hynix aims to expand its collaboration with Nvidia from AI chips to broader AI infrastructure," it added. On Tuesday, Chey also met with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in Seattle to discuss cooperation in high bandwidth memory (HBM) along with AI data centers and solutions. "The meeting reflects SK Group's strategy to strengthen its position in the global AI ecosystem by broadening cooperation with Microsoft beyond semiconductors into AI infrastructure and services," t

Feb 13, 2026By Yonhap

SK chief meets Nvidia, Google CEOs to explore AI cooperation

ARC Raiders propels Nexon into North America, lifting sales 4.6 times

Nexon’s extraction shooter ARC Raiders is propelling the Korean game developer’s push into the North American market, as its popularity drives unprecedented earnings in the region. According to Nexon on Friday, its 2025 sales rose 6 percent from a year earlier to a record 475.1 billion yen (4.5 trillion won or $3.1 billion) to set a new record. Operating profit remained flat at 124 billion yen. Nexon reports earnings in yen as it is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Its holding company, NXC, is based in Korea, and Nexon’s wholly owned unit, Nexon Korea, oversees game development. Buoying the revenue growth were strong sales in North America and Europe. Driven by the success of ARC Raiders, fourth-quarter sales in the two regions surged 364 percent from a year earlier to reach 39.8 billion yen, marking record performances in quarterly and annual basis. Launched globally last October, ARC Raiders is a player-versus-player-versus-environment shooter game whose cumulative sales have surpassed 14 million copies as of this month. The title has drawn favorable responses from Western use

Feb 13, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

ARC Raiders propels Nexon into North America, lifting sales 4.6 times

Samsung Electronics begins HBM4 shipping for 1st time

Samsung Electronics announced Thursday that it has begun mass production and shipping of high-bandwidth memory 4 (HBM4), marking the world’s first delivery of the advanced chip for artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators to customers. For over a year, the company’s chipmaking Device Solutions division had refrained from officially announcing updates related to its HBM, as its predecessor HBM3E struggled in the market due to yield issues. With the latest announcement, Samsung appears to be signaling confidence in its technological advantages and stability in the mass production system. Samsung Electronics’ HBM4 chips are using its 1c process, the sixth-generation 10-nanometer-class DRAM technology, for the DRAM cell die, while using a 4-nanometer foundry process for the base die. While its main rival SK hynix is using a previous-generation 1b process for HBM4 to focus on stability, Samsung said it has pursued a more advanced process from the designing phase to secure top-tier performance, and achieved stable yields without any redesigns. “Instead of taking the conventional path

Feb 12, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

Samsung Electronics begins HBM4 shipping for 1st time

Kakao enters strategic partnership with Google on on-device AI

Korea’s mobile platform giant Kakao said Thursday it has formed a strategic partnership with Google to collaborate on-device artificial intelligence (AI) services and embed its technologies into the latter’s new extended reality (XR) devices, including AI glasses. Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a announced the partnership during the company’s earnings call, saying the company will “begin full-fledged global collaborations to introduce next-generation AI experiences on the device side from this year.” “As the starting point of the partnership, we will collaborate with Google Android to upgrade on-device AI services, including Kanana in KakaoTalk launched last year,” Chung said. “Since this is a cooperation with the Android team, we expect to explore various opportunities in on-device AI services that can maximize the value of data assets within the Kakao ecosystem.” Kanana in KakaoTalk is a chatbot-type on-device AI service that functions in Kakao’s flagship KakaoTalk messenger app. Based on the company’s own AI model, it understands users’ conversation context and proactive

Feb 12, 2026By Nam Hyun-woo

Kakao enters strategic partnership with Google on on-device AI

Korea to launch $687 mil. project to develop on-device AI semiconductors

Korea will begin a 1 trillion-won ($687.8 million) project next month to develop artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors for on-device use, the industry ministry said Wednesday. The government and private companies will funnel a combined 1 trillion won into the project over the next five years, with a goal of creating some 10 AI chips that can be used in self-driving cars, smart home appliance products, humanoid robots and others, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources. The project is part of the government's comprehensive plan to foster the AI transformation of manufacturing industries through its Manufacturing AX (M.AX) Alliance initiative announced at an earlier meeting between Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and AI chipmaking companies. The alliance, which kicked off in September, comprises some 1,000 major companies and research institutes, including tech giant Samsung Electronics, auto giant Hyundai Motor Group, home appliance maker LG Electronics and robotics firm Rainbow Robotics. The upcoming project will help local companies reduce their technological de

Feb 11, 2026By Yonhap

Korea to launch $687 mil. project to develop on-device AI semiconductors

Samsung SDS showcases global digital logistics solutions at Manifest 2026

Samsung SDS took the stage at Manifest  2026, one of the world’s largest supply chain and logistics technology events, to spotlight its global digital logistics push, unveiling its tech-driven supply chain solutions. The event, held in Las Vegas from Monday through Wednesday (local time), brought together leading companies and technology executives across the global supply chain and logistics sector to discuss emerging technologies and market trends. This year’s conference drew about 7,200 attendees, including shippers, logistics solution and service providers, startups and investors. At its exhibition booth, Samsung SDS showcased its logistics platform Cello Square, which provides an end-to-end logistics workflow. It enables users to manage tasks from quoting and booking to billing and settlement through a single interface. The company also introduced its tech-driven logistics services covering ocean and air freight, as well as ground transportation, warehousing and localized distribution. “Manifest 2026 served as a key platform to showcase the company’s digital logistics por

Feb 11, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee

Samsung SDS showcases global digital logistics solutions at Manifest 2026

SK, Nvidia chiefs discuss AI ties in Silicon Valley: sources

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang at a Korean fried chicken restaurant in Silicon Valley last week, with Chey's eldest daughter and vice president of the South Korean conglomerate's biopharmaceutical arm also in attendance, industry sources said Wednesday. The two business leaders and Chey Yoon-chung, vice president of SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., met Thursday (U.S. time) and discussed possible cooperation in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry encompassing the chips and biotechnology sectors, the sources said. The gathering venue was a Korean-style restaurant, apparently mirroring Huang's October meeting over beer with Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong at a fried chicken restaurant in southern Seoul. During their two-hour meeting, the SK chief and Huang are widely believed to have discussed supply plans for HBM4, the next generation of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) expected to be used in Nvidia's upcoming AI accelerator, dubbed Vera Rubin. The sources said the two may