Lotte Innovate, the IT services arm of Lotte Group, announced Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with DeepX, a Korean AI semiconductor startup, for mass-production cooperation on "NPU deployment and field verification to replace GPUs for mutual technology improvement."
Under the agreement, the two companies will pursue technology cooperation using domestically developed AI semiconductors, conduct field trials across various industries, and aim to begin mass production by the second half of this year. They will also collaborate on applying dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) for real-time AI inference in intelligent CCTV systems.
The two companies have been conducting proof-of-concept tests in the transportation and CCTV sectors since 2023. Their goal is to implement vision AI-based real-time video analysis systems in on-device AI environments across industries including intelligent transportation systems (ITS), public infrastructure, and smart retail.
Lotte Innovate has been pursuing KISA certification, a government performance certification for intelligent CCTV, since last year. It has obtained certification for five analysis categories: intrusion, loitering, collapse detection, arson, and marketing. The company plans to equip solutions using these functions with low-power, high-efficiency NPUs instead of GPUs and verify their effectiveness. DeepX will provide development support to ensure Lotte Innovate's proprietary vision AI models operate smoothly in the NPU environment.
Based on this partnership, both companies expect to proactively respond to the government's K-Semiconductor activation policy and expand opportunities to enter public-sector projects. Their strategy centers on reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) by adopting NPUs that offer higher price competitiveness than GPUs at equivalent performance levels, and securing a differentiated technological edge in new business proposals. Lotte Innovate also plans to gradually expand the application of on-device vision AI systems across Lotte Group's retail, logistics, and infrastructure operations.