Naver unveils Korea's super-sized AI HyperCLOVA

During the Naver AI Now Conference held online on May 25, Naver announced the achievements and future direction of Naver AI technology after introducing the supercomputer in October last year.

In the keynote speech, Naver Clova CIC CEO Suk Geun Chung said, "As Global technology conglomerates are waiting to see the explosive innovation that large AI models will bring, they are making more investments.

For Korea's AI technology to take the lead in the global platform, we determined that we have to do more than just utilizing and catching up with the open technology that has already been revealed.” Super-size AI is high-performance artificial intelligence that requires super-sized servers, data, and manpower.

Naver emphasized that it will lead the era of “AI for everyone” by presenting new and different experiences to users, SMEs, and creators through HyperClova, which changes the paradigm of Korean AI.

Odean Robotics opens a new paradigm in butcher shop operation with an AI-based unmanned solution

The unmanned solution specialist company ODEAN Robotics recently partnered with premium meat brand Meat King and opened an unmanned butcher shop in mid-May. ODEAN Robotics will introduce the Heimdall Unmanned 365 equipped with the latest technology in AI and IoT.

The company will showcase the technology which can automatically detect abnormal temperatures of refrigerators. The prototype of this technology is soon to be released. When the entrance or the refrigerator door of an Heimdall Unmanned 365 is opened for a prolonged time, or if the temperature is abnormal, the alarm is set off automatically.

To reduce the damage of the product and any loses from that damage, the system enables detection of the products that have been left out for too long. Also, users can manage the store in real time by using the application which detects the entry and exit of customers. It even detects loitering and other abnormal behaviors that can occur in unmanned stores.

By using ODEAN Robotics' state-of-the-art AI automated unmanned store technology, Meat King is anticipating a new wave in unmanned butcher shops.

Public-private joint next-gen advanced base “metaverse alliance” launches in Pangyo

The Ministry of Science and ICT said, “To make a digital new deal and lead the metaverse era to build the foundation with a ‘virtual convergence economic development strategy,’ we have formed an alliance in which the private companies lead the project and the government supports it.”

The ministry will pursue various support plans based on the results presented by the Alliance, and focus especially on supporting the building of the open metaverse platform to vitalize the metaverse ecosystem.

To do this, the ministry will join hands with NIPA, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, to stimulate work on joint metaverse projects in the metaverse hub to support growth, create and test contents, and train developers for metaverse companies. 

Cho Gyeong-sik, the Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “Metaverse is not a space that is monopolized by a big company. It is rather a space where multiple companies and subjects coexist and make something together. The private-led metaverse alliance will become the center of cooperation.”

Korea Bio investment to open more innovation... Giving full support to startups to innovate K-Bio

- The Open Innovation Challenge was held to prepare a bridgehead for overseas expansion of domestic companies

Korea Bio will hold the Open Innovation Challenge at the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry from May 26th to the 27th to connect the demand for open innovation of multinational pharmaceutical companies seeking to discover new growth engines with Korean biotechnology startups.

- Smart Start to help promising bio companies to grow and make them leap forward

To support the sustainable and stable growth of excellent bio ventures, Korea Bio, together with the Korea Development Bank and the New Industry Organization for Investment, launched the “Ninth Smart Start” event for Korean companies in Series B and C and also the pre-series on May 25th.

- Golden Seed Challenge held to discover hidden gems

The Golden Seed Challenge, an investment attraction IR event targeting early bio-startups in the pre-A and Series A stages, was also be unveiled on May 27th.

SK Bioscience stacks up to 200 billion won for development cost for COVID vaccine

This additional fund will be used for △Multi-national Phase 3 clinical trials and licensing △Development of commercial processes with annual production of large batches and introduction of related raw materials, and △Additional R&D to prepare for variants with the GBP510 vaccine.

GBP510 is a candidate for a COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by SK Biosciences with the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington. The company began Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials at the end of last year and is currently working on stage 2 of phase 2. SK Bioscience will submit an Investigational New Drug (or IND) Application for multi-country Phase 3 clinical trials to get approval from authorities such as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea by the first half of this year.

It aims to commercialize it by the first half of next year through streamlined licensing processes such as Emergency Use Authorization. GBP510 was selected for CEPI, or the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations' Wave 2 Project last year, so when commercialized, it will be supplied to the world including underdeveloped countries in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia through COVAX.

Ahn Jae-yong, president of SK Bioscience, said, "CEPI's full support for GBP510 proves the technical level and potential value of this vaccine candidate. We will take the lead in ending the pandemic by supplying enough of this vaccine to the world, by completing the development of the vaccine that can cover the variants, and by building more factories."

Wemade promises to jump to a virtual asset company

Wemade recorded the highest quarterly sales since its establishment in the first quarter of 2021. The sales figures were 76 billion won and the operating profit was 27.5 billion won in the first quarter, up 147% and 755%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

The company explained that this performance was driven by “Mir 4.” Launched last year, Mir 4 contributed to the company's sales by earning 45.6 billion won in the first quarter alone. With the long litigation battle with a Chinese game company that used Mir IP without permission about to end, Wemade really only began having the time to focus on the game last year.

CEO Jang Hyeon-guk plans to continue the upward trend of earnings through continuous investment in new technologies such as blockchain. In a conference call held shortly after the announcement of 1Q 2021 performance results, he said, “This first quarter is very meaningful as we had the best performance since the establishment of Wemade.

Our future will be paved by following the current trend by evolving into the metaverse and virtual asset company.”

Pangyo Technovalley is an innovation hub for global companies comparable to the Silicon Valley in the US, Zhongguancun in China, and STATION F in France. It is an Asia tech hub with 1,259 IT, BT, CT, and NT companies that possess innovative products and technologies. Located just south of the metropolitan area, it provides the best environment for Korean companies to do business with great transportation access and infrastructure.

Various high-tech companies are located in Pangyo Technovalley, and it is occupied by 64,000 full-time employees, many in their 20-30s. In terms of industry, the companies are engaged in information technology, contents technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

With the support of innovative companies with global capabilities such as Kakao, Naver, AhnLab, Krafton, NCSoft, Nexon, and Hancom, companies in Pangyo Technovalley recorded 107 trillion won in sales last year. Investment and infrastructure growth in Pangyo is expected to continue, with the Metaverse hub entering Pangyo this year.

Source: Pangyo Techno Valley Official Newsroom 

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