▲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 customized news items for each reader type.
[Key Issue Briefing]
■ AI Custom Chip Competition: As Anthropic and OpenAI join the race to develop proprietary chips to reduce dependence on Nvidia, big tech companies including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta have been accelerating their departure from Nvidia by developing custom chips for years. This movement aims to break free from a structure where Nvidia controls 90% of the AI data center chip market.
■ Pre-Unicorn Series B: Mango Boost, a Korean data processing unit (DPU) design startup, has launched efforts to raise 150 billion won ($110 million) in Series B funding at a valuation of approximately 700 billion won. The company has attracted interest from global semiconductor firms including Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, secured Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS) as major partners, and is drawing market attention alongside the National Growth Fund's large-scale investment in AI semiconductors.
■ Naver, Kakao Price Target Cuts: As uncertainty over AI business monetization comes into focus, 10 domestic securities firms have lowered their target prices for Naver (035420.KS) and Kakao (035720.KS) this month. Both companies face a structure where costs are reflected ahead of revenues in the short term due to expanded AI investments. However, securities analysts are maintaining 'buy' ratings across the board, leaving room for a rebound.
[News of Interest to Startup Founders]
1. Following OpenAI, Anthropic Eyes Custom Chip Development to Challenge Nvidia Dominance
- Key Summary: Anthropic, developer of the AI model 'Claude,' is considering developing its own chips, Reuters reported. Anthropic currently operates Claude by leasing data centers equipped with Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) and Amazon and Google chips. On January 7, the company also secured 3.5 gigawatts of computing capacity based on tensor processing units (TPUs) through collaboration with Google and Broadcom. OpenAI announced a custom chip development partnership with Broadcom last October, while Meta declared it would release proprietary chips independent of Nvidia every six months, escalating the big tech custom chip competition into all-out war. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated in a shareholder letter that estimated annual revenue from the company's proprietary AI chips has exceeded $20 billion (approximately 29.6 trillion won).
2. 'Pre-Unicorn' Mango Boost Pursues 150 Billion Won Series B Investment
- Key Summary: Mango Boost, a DPU (data processing unit) design company founded in 2022 by Professor Kim Jang-woo of Seoul National University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has launched Series B fundraising at a valuation of approximately 700 billion won. Mango Boost's DPU enhances server efficiency and performance by preventing overload on CPUs (central processing units) and GPUs (graphics processing units) within data centers. Four years after founding, the company is pursuing 150 billion won in Series B funding following 13 billion won in seed funding and 70 billion won in Series A. In the first half of last year, the company rejected a concrete acquisition offer from Nvidia and chose an independent path. Meanwhile, Korean AI semiconductor company Rebellions successfully raised 640 billion won at a valuation of 3.4 trillion won, heightening industry expectations.
3. AI Business Uncertainty Lowers Expectations for Naver and Kakao
- Key Summary: As uncertainty over AI business monetization for Naver and Kakao comes to the fore, 10 domestic securities firms have lowered their target prices for both stocks this month. Of the 81 target price cuts across the entire KOSPI market, approximately 12% were concentrated on these two stocks alone. The common reason cited by analysts is the structure where short-term costs are reflected ahead of revenues due to expanded AI investments. SK Securities (001510.KS) lowered its Naver target price from 360,000 won to 320,000 won while pointing to AI agent adoption as key to a stock price turnaround. Korea Investment & Securities analyst Jeong Ho-yoon noted that external service integration of the on-device AI model 'Kanana' is Kakao's core growth strategy, and if usability increases, it is highly likely to lead directly to monetization.
4. Arm Vice President: "TSMC is a Test... Samsung Foundry Has the Capability"
- Key Summary: Will Abbey, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Arm, the world's largest semiconductor intellectual property (IP) company, stated the company will expand memory efficiency collaboration with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Arm holds absolute influence in mobile chip systems, with 99% of smartphone processors following its architecture. The company has been supplying solutions across the chip ecosystem through Compute Subsystems (CSS) introduced two years ago. Having unveiled 'Arm AGI CPU,' its first proprietary chip, last month, the company formalized its intention to expand collaboration with Samsung Foundry while initial production proceeds at TSMC. Abbey also emphasized that memory efficiency will become increasingly important due to surging memory prices, and that R&D-stage collaboration with Korean companies will continue.
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