As artificial intelligence rewrites the rules of global competition, South Korea faces a moment of truth. At the center of this race is LG AI Research, led by two of the country’s top AI strategists, determined to secure Korea’s place among the world’s technological powers. “It’s not just a lofty ambition,” says Lim Woo-hyung, co-head of LG AI Research, in a recent interview with The Korea Herald. “It’s a national mandate.” Seated next to him, co-head Lee Hong-lak adds, “This isn’t a game where

South Korea is muscling into the global competition for large language models, with both conglomerates and startups rolling out artificial intelligence systems tailored to Korean language and culture, as they take aim at OpenAI and Google’s dominance. From LG’s Exaone and Naver’s HyperClova X to Upstage’s Solar Pro, SK Telecom’s A.X series, Kakao’s Kanana and NC AI’s Varco, Korean developers are jockeying for a spot in the government’s “sovereign AI” drive. Five consortia led by LG AI Research,

AI has swept across the tech industry, powering chatbots, search engines and productivity tools. OpenAI's ChatGPT -- which first ignited the global buzz in November 2022 -- and other big tech models sit firmly in the top tier, but the surge of large language models shows no sign of slowing. Each new arrival is touted as the smartest or the first of its kind, outscoring the rest. That raises a key question: how are these models really evaluated, and which is the true leader? The answer lies in be