▲ AI PRISM* Customized Economic Briefing
*Editor's Note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an 'AI-based customized news recommendation and summarization service' developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and delivers six tailored news stories for each reader type.
[Key Issue Briefing]
■ Biosimilar Strategy Shift: Samsung Bioepis has adopted an early collaboration model with global pharmaceutical firm Sandoz, jointly designing R&D and commercialization from the preclinical stage. This marks an evolution from the conventional approach of partnering on sales only after product approval to an integrated business model that co-designs clinical trials, regulatory strategy and launch timing.
■ AI Agent Monetization: Naver (035420.KS) officially announced at its annual general meeting that it will roll out vertical AI agents across all services — including search, finance and health — within the year, with a focus on monetization. Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon stressed that the health AI agent can generate revenue through a structure linked to commission-based sales from commerce and reservations.
■ Domestic NPU Validation in Full Swing: The government has expanded and reorganized its alliance into the 'K-NPU Alliance,' rallying the domestic neural processing unit (NPU) ecosystem. The plan aims to reduce dependence on Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) through city-scale smart city pilot projects and the development of on-device AI services.
[News of Interest to Startup Founders]
1. "Integrating Biosimilar Development and Distribution"… Samsung Bioepis Begins Business Model Transformation
- Key Summary: Samsung Bioepis is accelerating the construction of an integrated business model by reorganizing its biosimilar operations from a product development-centered approach to a commercialization strategy-centered one. Through its early collaboration model with Sandoz, the company has laid the groundwork for expanding its strategic partnership to include up to five follow-on pipeline products, starting with SB36 (vedolizumab). In the European market, SB12 holds an overwhelming No. 1 position with a 54.4% share of the eculizumab biosimilar market, while SB17 leads the ustekinumab market with 34.4%. In the United States, the company became the first in the biosimilar industry to simultaneously sign private-label supply agreements with two of the three major pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
2. Naver to Roll Out 'AI Agents' Across All Services Within the Year… Focused on Monetization
- Key Summary: Naver officially unveiled its AI-centered growth strategy at its 27th annual general meeting, committing to a full-scale rollout of AI agents across all service areas within the year. The company plans to expand the scope of its 'AI Shopping Agent,' introduced last month, and launch vertical agents specialized in search, finance, health and other areas by year-end. Meanwhile, for the first time in 10 years, the company appointed a chief financial officer — CFO Kim Hee-chul — as an inside director to strengthen the linkage between global expansion and financial strategy. Shareholders also raised criticisms at the meeting over the declining share price and low dividends.
3. KAIST Builds 100% Domestically Developed 'Dark Factory'… Targeting Export
- Key Summary: The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), together with the Ministry of Science and ICT, unveiled 'KAIROS,' a demonstration platform for a physical AI-based fully unmanned dark factory. KAIROS connects autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), warehouses, production equipment and humanoid robots into a single system, with an AI agent called 'DAVIS' performing tasks ranging from equipment status analysis to immediate corrective action. Application of a proprietary reinforcement learning-based algorithm achieved performance improvements of 30–50% over existing methods in a 200-robot-scale simulation. The long-term vision extends beyond product exports to exporting the entire factory design, construction and operation system overseas.
[Reference News for Startup Founders]
4. Domestic AI Chips for Smart Cities… NPU Validation Begins in Earnest
- Key Summary: The Ministry of Science and ICT has expanded and reorganized the domestic AI semiconductor alliance from the 'K-Cloud Alliance' to the 'K-NPU Alliance,' rallying a 153-company ecosystem around domestically developed NPUs. NPUs are gaining attention as an alternative to GPUs as the AI industry shifts from the training phase to the inference phase, leveraging NPUs' low power consumption. Accordingly, city-scale large-scale pilot projects are being pursued, including surveillance operations using high-performance CCTV and drones equipped with NPUs, while free distribution of the 'Everyone's AI Factory Manager' cloud service for small and medium-sized enterprises is also under review. Lee Sang-hyun, director of the AI Semiconductor Innovation Research Center at Sungkyunkwan University, said domestic NPU companies with fast development capabilities have a viable chance of winning in the on-device AI market.
5. Quantum Computing Costs $100 Per Minute… Korea Stuck in the Lab
- Key Summary: With overseas quantum computer cloud usage fees reaching $100 per minute, domestic researchers and startups are blocked by cost barriers, unable to secure even pilot opportunities. According to the government's '2025 Quantum White Paper,' the Quantum Computing as a Service (QCaaS) market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 28.9% from 2025 to 2035, expanding to more than 3.8 trillion won ($2.8 billion). Meanwhile, only large corporations with substantial capital — such as SK Telecom (017670.KS), LG Electronics (066570.KS) and Hyundai Motor — are entering the ecosystem through partnerships with global quantum firms including IonQ and IBM. The government has announced a comprehensive quantum plan that includes the establishment of an IonQ joint research center in Korea and attracting $5 million in annual investment over three years to address the cost gap.
6. Woori Financial Chairman Lim Jong-ryong Visits Space AI Startup Right After Securing Reappointment
- Key Summary: Woori Financial Group Chairman Lim Jong-ryong, immediately after securing reappointment with 99.3% approval from participating shareholders at the annual general meeting, visited space AI solutions startup Telepix as his first official engagement. Telepix was selected for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's 'Top 100 Defense Innovation Companies,' and Chairman Lim committed to providing tailored financial support to help the company leap forward through an initial public offering (IPO). Chairman Lim presented productive finance expansion, AI transformation (AX) and group synergy enhancement as core strategies for his second term, with plans to launch a company-wide AX master plan over the next three years. He also outlined a vision to expand touchpoints with advanced strategic industry companies and reclaim Woori's stature as a leader in corporate finance, leveraging its comprehensive financial group portfolio completed through securities and insurance acquisitions.
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