Choi Su-yeon, Naver CEO, "Collaborating with Various Companies to Expand the 'Global Sovereign AI' Ecosystem"

19th KCCI Jeju Forum AI Management Talk Show
Conversation with Chairman Chey Tae-won, Dean Jeong Song, and Kim Jae-cheol of AI Graduate School
"Active Discussion on AI Direction Over Speed of Development"
"Korea Possesses AI Industry Ecosystem and Independent Platforms"

Choi Su-yeon, CEO of Naver, emphasized at the 'AI Management Talk Show' held on the 19th at the Shilla Hotel in Jeju during the 'KCCI Jeju Forum' that "Our company aims to support various countries around the world in securing 'Sovereign AI' based on our experience and know-how in developing native language-centered models," adding, "We plan to expand the global sovereign AI ecosystem by building cooperation with companies sharing common goals across various fields such as AI infrastructure, data, and services."

Naver CEO Suyeon Choi (left) listens to Chairman Taewon Choi of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (right) during the 'KCCI Jeju Forum' AI Management Talk Show held at Shilla Hotel Jeju on the 19th. Photo by Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry

At the talk show held under the theme 'Challenges and Future Vision of Our Companies in the AI Era,' CEO Choi engaged in a dialogue with Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Jeong Song, Dean of the KAIST Kim Jaechul AI Graduate School, stating, "Recently, discussions about the direction of AI have become more active than the speed of its development." Sovereign AI is a compound word of Sovereign, meaning autonomy, and AI, referring to artificial intelligence, signifying 'AI with sovereignty' or 'AI sovereignty.'

CEO Choi said, "Our country is recognized globally as a leading AI nation with an excellent AI industry ecosystem and an independent digital platform," adding, "In particular, Naver is a company leading AI technology development in Korea, being the first domestic private company to introduce a supercomputer, build the hyperscale data center ‘Gak Sejong,’ and actively invest in realizing the potential of AI technology, which is still in its early stages, through innovative academic research frequently cited by AI researchers worldwide."

She continued, "Apart from China, Korea is practically the only country in Asia that has developed a massive generative AI model centered on its native language 'from scratch' and applied it across services," predicting that Korea could play a leading role in non-English-speaking regions where demand for building indigenous AI models is increasing recently.