**AI PRISM* Customized Economic Briefing**
*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 selects and provides six tailored news items for each reader type.*
[Key Issue Briefing]
■ Amazon's Reversal: Amazon recorded annual revenue of $716.9 billion (approximately 1,036.85 trillion won) last year, overtaking Walmart to claim the top spot in global revenue for the first time in its 32-year history. After surviving the dot-com bubble collapse in 2001, Amazon launched Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2006, transforming its business model from a retail-focused structure to one based on cloud computing and advertising.
■ AI Security Blind Spots: A security audit by Korean startup Yatab revealed that six major AI models achieved self-defense rates of only 4% to 72% against attacks. When Yatab's security solution AEGIS v4.0 was applied, five models achieved 100% defense rates with 0% false positive rates and processing times of 0-3 milliseconds, causing no disruption to workflows.
■ K-Beauty's North American Push: d'Alba Global (483650) recorded revenue of 163.5 billion won and operating profit of 101.1 billion won last year, representing year-over-year growth of 68% and 69% respectively. Since December last year, the company has been expanding its offline distribution network by entering 150 Costco and 1,500 Ulta Beauty stores in North America.
[News of Interest to Startup Founders]
1. Bezos Read the Times First: Abandoning Offline for Cloud and AI Bets
Amazon recorded annual revenue of $716.9 billion last year, surpassing Walmart ($713.2 billion) for the first time after Walmart's 13-year reign at the top. The online bookstore that started with $2 million in a Washington state garage in 1994 shifted its growth trajectory by launching AWS in 2006 and transitioning to a cloud and advertising revenue structure.
Unlike Walmart with its high retail concentration, Amazon has built a big tech revenue structure closer to Google and Meta. The company is currently operating "Clarity," an internal AI tool utilization tracking system, as it pursues AI transformation. Its current market capitalization stands at $2.1992 trillion (approximately 3,188 trillion won), ranking fifth globally.
2. Global AI Models Show Only 57% Attack Defense Rate; Korean Startup Offers Solution
Korean AI security startup Yatab's "AEGIS v4.0 Security Audit Report" revealed that six AI models—including Claude, Grok, Gemini, Qwen3, and DeepSeek—achieved self-defense rates of only 4% to 72%. Testing was conducted based on 25 scenarios from OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project), an international nonprofit security organization. DeepSeek scored particularly low at 4%, while Qwen3-32B recorded 36%.
When Yatab's AEGIS v4.0 was applied, five models—Claude, Grok, Qwen3-32B, and DeepSeek—achieved 100% defense rates. The core technology uses a "deterministic defense" approach that immediately blocks malicious patterns using predefined rules. Yatab plans to unveil its complete AEGIS solution at MWC 2026.
3. d'Alba Global Cracks North America with 101.1 Billion Won Operating Profit, Up 69% YoY
d'Alba Global recorded consolidated revenue of 163.5 billion won and operating profit of 101.1 billion won last year, with net income surging 413% to 79 billion won. Overseas revenue increased 131% to 326.1 billion won, accounting for approximately 66% of total revenue, while operating margin reached 19%.
Since December last year, the company has been expanding its offline distribution by launching mist and tone-up sunscreen sales at 150 Costco and 1,500 Ulta Beauty stores in North America. d'Alba Global plans to increase North American offline locations to approximately 3,000 this year, targeting revenue of 700 billion won, an operating margin of 21%, and overseas revenue share of 70%.
4. Motif Technologies Selected for Government AI Foundation Model Project; Trillion Labs Consortium Narrowly Misses Out
The Ministry of Science and ICT selected Motif Technologies' elite team in additional recruitment for the government-led independent AI foundation model (Dokpamo) development project. A consortium comprising Motif Technologies, More, Crowdworks, Seoul National University Industry-University Cooperation Foundation, and KAIST received high marks for AI technology capabilities spanning text, image, and video domains.
The Trillion Labs consortium backed by GS Group and POSCO Holdings was eliminated by a narrow margin. The Dokpamo project will now operate as a four-team competition among LG AI Research Institute, Upstage, SK Telecom, and Motif Technologies. Selected teams will promptly receive support equivalent to existing teams, including 768 B200 GPUs.
