[Future Business Forum] Woo-Hyung Lim, Executive Director at LG AI Research Institute, "An Era Where AI Assists M&A Decisions Will Come"

LG Also Conducts Research Using 'Exaone'
Positive Outlook for Korean AI LLM Startup
AGI Future to Be Explored at Next Month's Forum

Can a company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) decide on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) based on scenarios presented by artificial intelligence (AI) rather than executive meetings?

Mirae Business Forum - Im Woo-young, Executive Director of LG AI Research Institute, is being interviewed by Asia Economy. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Im Woo-hyung, Senior Vice President and Head of the Data Intelligence Lab at LG AI Research, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 18th at LG AI Research in Magok, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, "In the future, there will come an era when top corporate executives make major decisions like M&A using AI, and LG will show something using 'ExaOne' within a few years." ExaOne is a massive AI model developed by LG.

Im said, "Currently, small-scale research on various elements is underway, but eventually, an era will surely come when massive AI models play a key role in providing timely and accurate information necessary for management decisions," adding, "It will be a method where AI Research provides various predictive models, including time series forecasting and models that optimize complex and diverse information, to manufacturing and management sites."

Im is the head of the 'Data Intelligence Lab,' which researches AI prediction and optimization technologies and carries out related projects with group affiliates. He also manages platform and material development work as well as the 'Vision AI' research organization. Vision AI refers to a function that combines 'deep learning' based on data with 'computer vision,' which is mainly command-based.

LG Group, led by LG AI Research, is conducting various research projects to improve the efficiency of smart factory operations and manufacturing yield at affiliates such as LG Electronics, CNS, and Uplus. Im said, "For example, LG AI Research is working on AI research projects for LG Electronics' customer center," and added, "At the LG Group level, AI is being applied to key business processes of affiliates such as battery and OLED material development and new drug development to detect defects in advance and reduce costs."

Im views the emergence of startups providing various services using large language models (LLM) in the Korean AI market positively. He mentioned that startups such as AI semiconductor companies Puriosa AI, Sapeon, and Rebellion, as well as enterprise AI company MakinaRocks, are emerging with diverse businesses. He also noted that the Korean market is characterized by a diverse AI supply chain, including memory semiconductors, neural processing units (NPU), and services. However, he diagnosed limitations in fundamental technology and investment scale compared to the U.S. and China.

Im said, "Fundamental technologies such as the 'Transformer algorithm,' which is the basis of GPT, lag behind American companies, universities, and research institutes like Google DeepMind and Meta," and added, "The overwhelmingly large investment scale of the U.S. and China is also a concerning factor."

Im will participate as a panelist at the Future Enterprise Forum hosted by Asia Economy on the 22nd of next month to evaluate the AI era and envision the future of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

He said, "Three years ago, it was hard to predict that the AI industry would receive such explosive interest, but now that it has become a reality, I thought it was timely to address these topics and decided to participate," adding, "AI is not just a language for technologists but a language for all citizens, and I want to convey the message at the forum that AI is an ever-present companion like a mobile phone."

The Future Enterprise Forum will be held on the 22nd of next month at the Sapphire Ballroom of Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul.