AI Firm Makinarocks Draws 13.9 Trillion Won in KOSDAQ IPO Subscription

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

1. Makinarocks Draws 13.9 Trillion Won in Subscription Deposits…Competition Ratio of 2,807-to-1

- Key Summary: Makinarocks secured 13.87 trillion won in subscription deposits from retail investors, recording a competition ratio of 2,807-to-1. In the earlier institutional bookbuilding, 2,427 institutions participated with a competition ratio of 1,196-to-1, and the mandatory holding commitment ratio reached 78.2%, setting a new all-time high for KOSDAQ IPOs. Founded in 2017, Makinarocks supplies 'Runway,' an enterprise AI OS (operating system) specialized for industrial sites such as automotive, semiconductors, energy, and defense, and is scheduled to list on KOSDAQ on the 20th of this month. The IPO proceeds will be invested in upgrading Runway, including Dark Factory OS and Defense OS, as well as expanding into global markets such as Japan and Europe.

2. Hauling Boxes, Dancing on Stage…Lotte's 'Physical AI Experiment'

- Key Summary: Lotte Innovate will pursue joint research on physical AI with Lotte Global Logistics and Lotte World in June. With Lotte Global Logistics, it plans to test using humanoid robots for box stacking and transport at logistics sites, while with Lotte World, it will trial robot dance performances. Accordingly, competition is spreading across the SI (systems integration) industry, with LG CNS launching 'PhysicalWorks,' an integrated management platform for industrial robots, and Samsung SDS pursuing M&A (mergers and acquisitions) of physical AI companies. According to Grand View Research, the global physical AI market is expected to grow from $81.6 billion last year to $960.3 billion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate of 36%.

3. Kakao Pay "Targets No. 4 in Offline Payment Market Next Year"

- Key Summary: Kakao Pay unveiled a strategy to secure 10 million monthly offline payment users by next year, surpassing Hyundai Card (9.9 million) to enter the top 4 of the payment market. Its current offline monthly users stand at around 6 million, and it has secured more than 3 million additional payment points based on partnerships with Samsung Pay and Zero Pay. It is also the only Korean fintech participant in the 'x402 Foundation,' which establishes global AI payment standards, positioning itself in the next-generation AI payment market. Building on 11-fold growth in transaction volume over the past seven years and monthly payment users surpassing 20 million, the company aims to leap forward as the "best payment service."

4. Cracked Malaysia…LG Uplus Takes First Step in Exporting AI Assistant 'ixi-O'

- Key Summary: LG Uplus is pursuing the local commercial launch of its AI assistant 'ixi-O' with Maxis, Malaysia's largest mobile carrier with 10 million mobile subscribers. It will provide ixi-O tailored to overseas carrier environments on a SaaS basis, reflecting local languages by utilizing the multilingual processing capabilities of its on-device AI engine. The deal carries significance as the first tangible result of the global AI service commercialization vision announced by LG Uplus CEO Hong Bum-sik at MWC26 in March this year. The two companies are also reviewing plans to expand cooperation to AI-based smart home services and B2B (business-to-business) solutions.

5. "Accurate AI Alone Is Not Enough; Trustworthy AI Is Rising"

- Key Summary: Su-In Lee, professor at the University of Washington in the U.S. and a world-renowned scholar in XAI (Explainable AI), diagnosed that the focus of AI competition is shifting from "accurate models" to "trustworthy and controllable systems." In particular, she projected that in heavily regulated areas such as healthcare, finance, and autonomous systems, explainability itself will become a condition for market entry. Professor Lee emphasized that XAI should be viewed not as a mere technical option but as key infrastructure that determines the reliability and accountability of AI products. She will deliver the message that the next stage of AI is building new scientific infrastructure based on trust and interpretability at 'Seoul Forum 2026,' to be held at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on the 27th and 28th of this month.

6. LS (006260) Turns Waste Cables into Eco-Friendly Copper

- Key Summary: Korea Future Materials, a subsidiary of LS Cable & System, completed construction of its Gunsan plant in North Jeolla Province and began mass production of eco-friendly materials such as recycled copper and Cuflake. The Gunsan plant, with an investment of 45 billion won and a site of 16,576 square meters, began operations about two years after groundbreaking. Recycled copper, made from copper recovered from waste cables, can reduce carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to direct mining, while Cuflake is a copper foil-type new material developed for the first time in the world by LS Cable & System. Meanwhile, LS Cable & System is targeting global power infrastructure demand, signing a 700 billion won supply contract in the U.S. in February this year based on its competitiveness as No. 1 in Korea and No. 5 globally in the ultra-high-voltage cable market for AI data centers.