POSCO DX announced on July 2 that it has signed a business cooperation agreement with Mobilint, an artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor startup, to utilize neural processing units (NPUs).
Ahead of the agreement, POSCO DX invested 3 billion won ($2.2 million) in Mobilint in February through the POSCO DX Corporate Venture Capital New Technology Investment Fund, jointly established with POSCO Technology Investment. Under the partnership, POSCO DX plans to install Mobilint's NPUs in its proprietary industrial control system "PosMaster" to build smart factories equipped with AI-powered analysis for facility control at industrial sites. To this end, the two companies will pursue technology development to ensure POSCO DX's AI model algorithms achieve optimal performance in Mobilint's NPU-based environment.
Mobilint is a company that possesses high-performance NPU technology capable of running large language models (LLMs) in edge computing environments. Its high-performance NPUs enable real-time decision-making and control using vast on-site data generated from sensors and equipment.
POSCO DX plans to expand edge AI technology and transition its existing graphics processing unit (GPU)-based AI systems to NPUs. The company also plans to deploy NPUs across various industrial sites, including steel and secondary battery materials production facilities as well as logistics operations.
"We will develop this into a successful case of collaboration and mutual growth with a domestic startup, so that the POSCO Group can establish itself as a company leading the paradigm shift in manufacturing AI," said Cho Seok-ju, head of the AX Convergence Research Center at POSCO DX.