Nvidia Invites Korean Startups, Expanding Ecosystem Partners

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

1. Jensen Huang Sends 'Surprise' Invitation to K-Startups

- Key Summary: Nvidia invited domestic AI startups including Nota, RealWorld, Upstage, Aim Intelligence, Confeeg, and Trillion Labs to a closed-door meeting at Seoul's Shilla Hotel on the 8th. Unlike last year's Korea visit, when Huang met only with conglomerate chairmen such as Jay Y. Lee, Euisun Chung, and Tae-won Choi, this time the inclusion of early-stage startups drew industry attention. At GTC Taipei, he also held a 'Korea Partner Night' and met directly with domestic startup CEOs, repeatedly emphasizing the importance of the Korean market. "With its China business in a difficult situation, Nvidia is viewing Korea as a key site for building its AI ecosystem," said Cho Yeo-jun, CIO of The Ventures.

2. From Backer to Rival... Microsoft Unveils First In-House Reasoning Model Targeting OpenAI and Anthropic

- Key Summary: Microsoft unveiled seven in-house AI models, including the reasoning model 'MAI-Thinking-1,' at its 'Build' developer conference in San Francisco. MAI-Thinking-1, with 35 billion active parameters, offers up to 10 times the cost efficiency of GPT-5.5, and Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman emphasized, "We have closed the gap with Anthropic in just six months." Microsoft also unveiled the coding model 'MAI-Code-1' and image model 'MAI-Image-2.5,' fully entering competition with OpenAI and Anthropic. By combining its proprietary chip 'Maia 200' with cloud platform Azure, Microsoft is highlighting token cost savings and accelerating its push into the enterprise and developer markets.

3. "Too Wasteful to Leave It Like a Deposit"... Retirement Pensions Now Managed Directly via ETFs

- Key Summary: With retirement pension reserves surpassing 500 trillion won for the first time at the end of last year, ETF investments reached 48.7 trillion won, accounting for about 40% of performance-based assets. The DB plan share shrank from 49.7% in 2024 to 43.6% in the first quarter of this year, while the IRP share expanded from 22.9% to 28.3% over the same period, with last year's IRP reserve growth rate hitting 32.6%, the highest among retirement pension types. Industry analysts say real-time trading via ETFs, tax deferral effects, and the in-kind transfer system introduced in 2024 are combining to rapidly transform retirement pensions into 'investment-type assets.' For job-seekers, understanding the difference between DB and DC plans from their first job and developing IRP management strategies is described as the starting point for long-term wealth building.

4. 'Forced Labor Pretext' Brings 12.5% Tariff on Korea... Autos and Batteries Excluded

- Key Summary: The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced plans to impose tariffs of up to 12.5% on Korea, citing inadequate measures to block imports of forced labor goods. Korea was double-targeted, falling into both the group of 16 countries with excessive trade surpluses with the U.S. and the group of 54 countries with insufficient forced labor prohibition systems, though the rate could be reduced to 10% if related laws are revised. Industries subject to separate item-based tariffs—such as steel, autos, batteries, and critical minerals—are excluded from this Section 301 tariff application, allowing the industry a temporary sigh of relief. For job-seekers in export-oriented manufacturing and trade fields, continuously tracking Section 301 of the Trade Act and tariff negotiation trends is essential.

5. 'ChatGPT' Wins Korean Users' Choice Among Generative AI

- Key Summary: According to the Ministry of Science and ICT's '2025 Value-Added Telecommunications Business Survey,' the domestic generative AI usage rate reached 78.1%, with over 90% of those in their 20s using it. The most used generative AI was ChatGPT (68.1%), while Naver topped search (67.5%), KakaoTalk led messaging (92.5%), and Coupang led e-commerce (53.6%). Daily-use platform frequency was highest for messaging (91.3%), followed by search (85.8%) and video sharing (69.5%), while 53.9% reported subscription experience with OTT or telecom membership services. For those preparing for jobs in IT, platforms, and marketing, the survey serves as foundational data for understanding the domestic platform market landscape.

6. Retail Investors Cry Out in Volatile Market... May Forced Liquidations Hit 707.7 Billion Won, Year's High

- Key Summary: Even as KOSPI surged 28.4% in May, forced liquidations against brokerage receivables reached 707.7 billion won, the highest level this year. Forced liquidations were concentrated between May 15 and 20, when KOSPI plunged from above 8,000 intraday to 7,493, with single-day forced liquidations on May 20 alone reaching 145.8 billion won, the largest scale since October 2023. Margin loan balances also grew to 37.6811 trillion won, up 5.5% from the end of April, and including margin loan forced liquidations not captured in official tallies, the actual liquidation scale is estimated to be even larger. As a case in which hasty leveraged investing in a surging market led to massive losses, it underscores the importance of investment principles and risk management.