Seoul National University's AI Expansion Rejected, Rigid System Hampers AX Talent Development

*Editor's Note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an 'AI-based customized news recommendation and summary service' developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It provides six customized news items for each reader type.

1. Risk of Missing Golden Time Under Uniform Standards…AX Talent Policy Needs Complete Overhaul

- Key Summary: More than 70 industry-academia-research experts convened by the Ministry of Science and ICT agreed that cultivating convergence talent combining AI capabilities with domain knowledge is the top priority in the AX era. Academic criticism continues that rigid enrollment management systems — exemplified by the rejection of Seoul National University's convergence AI expansion proposal — are blocking universities from autonomously setting educational directions. KAIST's AI College launched in March this year, but only 12 undergraduate students applied out of a quota of 100, exposing the problem of inadequate preparation. From a job seeker's perspective, the ability to combine one's major knowledge with AI — beyond simply acquiring AI technology — will become a key variable for employment competitiveness.

2. Samsung Electronics, Facing 'General Strike Crisis,' Speeds Up Robot Business

- Key Summary: Samsung Electronics is accelerating the internalization of robot technology by recruiting new personnel for the hardware and AI groups under its Future Robot Task Force through job postings. Last year it posted external job openings three times, and this time it has even held online briefings for employees, actively promoting the initiative. Samsung Electronics, which holds Rainbow Robotics (277810.KQ) as a subsidiary, has presented a roadmap to expand from manufacturing robots to home and retail, aiming to realize AI-autonomous factories by 2030. This is interpreted as a signal that large corporate demand for robot-AI convergence positions is beginning in earnest, and industry analysts say entry opportunities are opening for job seekers preparing related capabilities.

3. "One Team Spent 60 Million Won a Month"…Korean Companies Struggle With Token Cost Burden

- Key Summary: Token cost management has emerged as a core task of corporate AI governance, as cases surfaced of an entire team under a CTO at Korean company A consuming 60 million won worth of tokens in one month, with the CTO alone using 10 million won. LG CNS has introduced a dashboard that reprocesses and displays OpenAI usage data, while BigValue has developed and is operating its own AI general affairs agent to manage token costs. With Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google successively adopting token-usage-based pricing, cost optimization strategies are analyzed as variables that will determine AX success or failure. Demand is expected to grow for talent equipped with token efficiency capabilities in addition to AI agent design and operation skills.

4. "We'll Even Set Up Factories and Advanced Equipment"…Big Tech Courts SK hynix (000660.KS)

- Key Summary: Global big tech companies have been confirmed to be launching a courtship offensive worth tens of trillions of won, proposing direct investment in SK hynix's Yongin Cluster No. 1 plant and funding support for ASML EUV equipment purchases. SK hynix's Q1 DRAM ASP surged more than 60% from the previous quarter and NAND flash jumped more than 70%, but the company explains that current production capacity is effectively at "zero." SK hynix appears to have seized the initiative in long-term supply contract negotiations by setting advance payments at approximately 30% of contract value and predetermining price floors and ceilings. As the memory semiconductor supply chain restructuring — a core element of AI infrastructure — accelerates, demand for semiconductor manufacturing, process, and equipment-related positions is expected to continue expanding.