Krafton Bets 100 Billion Won on AI, Launches Monetization Drive

*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 by reader type.

1. Krafton Sets Up Dedicated AI Commercialization Team, Targeting Both Revenue and Efficiency

- Key Summary: Krafton officially launched the "AI Frontier Division" in April. While the existing "AI Division" (formerly the Deep Learning Division) has focused on securing core technology, the new organization serves as an execution unit that turns AI technology into actual revenue. It operates in "Squad" units made up of product owners (PO) and AI-native engineers, adopting a method to quickly turn ideas into prototypes and validate them. Meanwhile, since declaring its transition to an "AI First" company in October last year, Krafton has invested about 100 billion won to build a Nvidia graphics processing unit (GPU) cluster and has increased its AI workforce from 80 to 160.

2. Lemon Healthcare Secures 3.8 Trillion Won in Deposits, Set to List on KOSDAQ on July 6

- Key Summary: Lemon Healthcare, a company specializing in real-time two-way medical data brokerage platforms, secured 3.7764 trillion won in deposits during its public offering subscription for retail investors, recording a subscription competition ratio of 1,511 to 1. The offering price was set at 10,000 won, the top of the indicative range (7,500 to 10,000 won), and the company plans to list on the KOSDAQ market on July 6. The funds raised will be used to build infrastructure for distributing and trading medical data for AI training, to upgrade existing services, and to develop new services. Hong Byung-jin, CEO of Lemon Healthcare, said, "We will establish ourselves as a company that connects the medical AI ecosystem."

3. Hyundai Card Uses 'AI' to Calculate Beauty Consumption Index, Targeting Core Customers

- Key Summary: Hyundai Card's in-house developed AI platform "Universe" has been adopted by SMCC, one of Japan's big three card companies, establishing itself as a genuine overseas export model. Universe calculates indices such as a high-end consumption tendency index, a beauty consumption index, and a marriage index based on actual consumption data including department store usage counts and convenience store usage frequency, to select marketing targets. Whereas marketers previously designed promotions by directly determining customer groups, after the introduction of Universe, the workflow standard shifted to first reviewing AI recommendations. As a result, the financial sector views this case as a symbolic example showing that domestic financial companies can evolve into data-driven technology firms.

4. Adobe Sees More AI Users, but Paid Conversion Remains Key

- Key Summary: Adobe's revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 (March-May) was $6.618 billion, up 12.7% from a year earlier, and earnings per share (EPS) also rose 17.8%, exceeding market expectations. However, for annual recurring revenue (ARR), excluding the effect of Semrush, acquired in April, core business growth came in at just the low 8% range, and the company lowered its core business ARR target by about $500 million. Visitors to Adobe.com surged more than 40% from a year ago, and premium monthly users grew from 50 million to 90 million, but the scale of free users converting to paid is expected to become clear only after fiscal 2027. In addition, with the replacement of the chief financial officer (CFO) and the process of appointing a chief executive officer (CEO) underway, concerns persist that generative AI could erode demand for existing software following Anthropic's release of "Claude Design."

5. Samsung, SK Strengthen M&A Teams, Recruiting Broadly From 'MBB' to Overseas Lawyers

- Key Summary: Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are fully overhauling their dedicated M&A teams based on funds accumulated during the AI memory boom. Samsung Electronics' Device eXperience (DX) division is expanding its staff to handle the entire process from deal sourcing to post-merger integration (PMI) by recruiting experts from the global consulting big three ("MBB"), including McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Bain & Company. SK hynix has newly established a "growth strategy division" directly under CEO Kwak Noh-jung, expanding the organization from around 10 people to about 60, and has also begun recruiting overseas lawyers dedicated to cross-border M&A legal advisory. According to financial information provider FnGuide, the combined operating profit forecast for the two companies from 2026 to 2028 reaches 2,320 trillion won.

6. Micron Secures Fixed Revenue Through 'Supply Advantage' SCA, Set to Break Records Again in Q4

- Key Summary: U.S.-based Micron saw its revenue and net profit surge 4.5-fold and 15-fold, respectively, in its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results (March-May 2026), and presented expected fourth-quarter revenue of more than $50 billion. The key background is the Strategic Customer Agreement (SCA); Micron has signed long-term supply contracts with 16 customers guaranteeing at least $100 billion (154 trillion won) in revenue through 2030. As high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply shortages intensified amid the AI development boom, a structure formed in which customers, including hyperscalers (large data center operators), pre-order five years' worth of supply. Meanwhile, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra forecast that the memory supply shortage could continue through 2028, which is analyzed to also work as a positive factor for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.