LG Expands Faculty for Korea's First Corporate AI Graduate School

LG Corp. (003550.KS) has decided to increase the number of full-time faculty members to strengthen expertise ahead of the March opening of Korea's first in-house artificial intelligence graduate school. The move is aimed at creating a virtuous cycle where the conglomerate nurtures industry-focused AI talent and connects them to research and development and commercialization outcomes.

According to industry sources on Tuesday, LG has decided to add several full-time professors to its in-house AI graduate school. The decision follows a recent recommendation from the Ministry of Education to increase full-time faculty to enhance AI education expertise.

Earlier this year, LG recruited one full-time professor through open hiring and assembled a 25-member faculty by adding 24 adjunct professors from its in-house researchers. With this expansion, the faculty is expected to grow to a level that enables one-on-one matching for all 30 students entering the master's degree program in artificial intelligence next year. The professors will conduct lectures, design curricula, run seminars, provide research guidance, and pursue individual research across three fields: AI, natural language processing, and computer vision.

LG AI Graduate School, which launched as an in-house educational institution in 2022, became the first corporate entity in Korea to receive official accreditation from the Ministry of Education this year, enabling it to confer formal degrees. Accreditation for a doctoral program is expected as early as the end of this year. Once approved, more than 10 employees who have been pursuing doctoral studies are expected to obtain formal degrees after their research papers pass review.

LG plans to use the in-house AI graduate school as a bridgehead for differentiating the group's AI technology. The graduate school designs research topics based not only on public data but also on internal data from LG affiliates. The structure allows major affiliates to turn their pressing challenges into research projects and generate business outcomes in the process of solving them. By internalizing research capabilities, the company can reduce dependence on external technology. Unlike short-term training programs, the long-term talent development approach is also expected to help prevent the loss of high-level AI talent.

Other companies are also focusing on nurturing internal AI leaders. Samsung Electronics introduced the "AI Expert System" in August, which provides 20 million won in incentive payments to in-house AI specialists. Hyundai Motor and SK are also considering establishing in-house graduate schools while watching LG's success.

"Systematically developing internal AI experts who understand the business has become the top priority for companies," an industry official said. "Simply recruiting doctoral-level talent from outside is not enough."