AI Patrol Cars, Military AI Emerge as Startups Enter Public Sector

*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 by reader type.

1. "World's First Quadruped Robot to Complete a Marathon…Will Become a Game Changer in the Defense Market"

- Key Summary: Lion Robotics' quadruped robot "Raibo2" completed the full course of the 2024 Sangju Dried Persimmon Marathon in 4 hours, 19 minutes and 52 seconds, setting the first such record for a quadruped robot. Raibo2 can run at up to 22 kilometers per hour and operate for eight hours on a 1-hour-40-minute charge, significantly outperforming Boston Dynamics' "Spot" (1 hour of operation) and China's Unitree (up to 4 hours). Hwangbo Je-min, CEO of Lion Robotics, completed a proof-of-concept (PoC) with a unit under the Ministry of National Defense and is developing practical applications such as chemical, biological and radiological detection and drone collaboration systems. The company has raised a total of 26.2 billion won from SBVA, Company K Partners and Future Play, and plans to pursue Series B funding by the end of this year.

2. "We Will Confront 'SaaS-pocalypse' Head-On with Anthropic and Nvidia"

- Key Summary: SAP, the world's top enterprise resource planning (ERP) provider, unveiled its "Autonomous Suite" equipped with 224 AI agents and 51 AI assistants at its annual conference "Sapphire 2026" in Orlando, USA. Christian Klein, CEO of SAP, stressed the superiority of specialized AI agents trained on corporate data, noting that general-purpose AI reaches only 80% accuracy and is difficult to apply to enterprise work. SAP has integrated Anthropic's AI model "Claude" into its business AI platform and adopted Nvidia's AI agent access control solution "OpenSHELL" to address security concerns. Meanwhile, more than 3,000 KPMG consultants are using SAP's AI assistant "Joule," and JPMorgan has decided to replace its general ledger with SAP's latest system.

3. "No More Worries About Livestock Epidemics! Criminals Beware!"…AX Wave Sweeps Disease Control, Security and Defense

- Key Summary: Data tech company BigValue is developing an AI model with the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency to predict the risk of African swine fever outbreaks, and will also participate in a project to integrate AIoT (Intelligent Internet of Things) and AI agents into the Korea Animal Health Integrated System (KAHIS). Clicka will deploy its first AI patrol car, jointly developed with the Korean National Police Agency, to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Preventive Patrol Unit 2 in June, assigning it to patrol Gangseo, Guro and Gwanak districts. The patrol car adopts an on-device approach that processes AI computations within the vehicle without relying on external cloud. 42Maru is participating in the Army Logistics Command's project to build a military logistics-specialized generative AI system, developing an AI model that leverages large language models (LLMs) and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) technology.

4. Sky Worldwide Partners with Sungkyunkwan University to Jointly Develop Next-Generation Agentic AI

- Key Summary: AI agent and database solutions company Sky Worldwide (SKAI) signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Sungkyunkwan University's AI Convergence College of Sungkyunkwan University (AICOSS) to jointly develop agentic AI algorithms, execution frameworks, and graph ontology-based knowledge data modeling technology. SKAI plans to jointly develop AI-based decision automation systems and data relationship analysis and intelligent recommendation engines, and will participate together in national projects and government-supported programs. Shin Jae-hyuk, CEO of SKAI, said, "This agreement will serve as a turning point in the evolution of AI beyond simple analysis into a decision-making entity capable of autonomous judgment and execution."

5. Emergency Blocking System Works…Usage of Legal Webtoon Platforms Surges

- Key Summary: Coinciding with the implementation of the emergency blocking system for illegal content distribution sites, new installations of Naver Webtoon and Kakao Page reached 155,181 in the fourth week of April, a 38.7% surge from the previous week. "Newtoki," Korea's largest illegal webtoon site, declared service termination on the 27th of last month, demonstrating the effects of the system. Meanwhile, Seo Beom-kang, chairman of the IP Convergence Industry Association, proposed expanding simultaneous global serialization as a realistic alternative to blocking overseas illegal distribution, and Naver Webtoon's pilot introduction showed overseas payments increased by up to 208%. Assessments suggest that expanding simultaneous serialization using AI translation could simultaneously eradicate illegal distribution and revitalize legal platforms.

6. "We Must Prepare for the AGI Era"…Science, Technology and AI Strategy Council Launches

- Key Summary: The Ministry of Science and ICT on the 13th launched the "Science, Technology and AI Future Strategy Council," composed of 17 private-sector experts from fields including economics, industry, education, medicine, culture and law, and began developing national science strategies through 2035. Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, said, "We must discuss how the scientific and industrial communities will prepare when the AGI era arrives," pointing out that current awareness and preparation for AI are insufficient. Participants discussed the need to establish quality measurement standards for AI utilization, ways to build social consensus, and the need to strengthen basic science education. The government plans to hold meetings quarterly and expand the items identified into policies through research and connections with other ministries.