Artificial General Intelligence Era Nears; Global VC Says Korea Holds the Opportunity

*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. Next Innovation Wave Is AGI; Korea to Become Top Beneficiary

- Key Summary: Christine Tsai, CEO of 500 Global, said that over the coming years, artificial general intelligence (AGI) and artificial superintelligence (ASI) will become the hottest topics. 500 Global is a U.S. venture capital firm founded in 2010 with assets under management reaching $2 billion (about 3 trillion won), with a track record of discovering unicorn companies such as Canva and Grab. Tsai explained that computing resources, power, and semiconductor supplies needed to develop AGI and ASI are in short supply, and that investment firms are placing weight on the added value derived from this process. She also assessed that Korea, equipped with semiconductor manufacturing capability and software strength, will become a beneficiary of the next technological transformation.

2. AI Skin Diagnosis, Then Custom Coffee: K-Wellness Rises

- Key Summary: Wellness House Seoul, near Gangnam Station in Seoul, is an experiential store offering AI skin diagnosis, customized beverages, cosmetic treatments, and body care in one place. Between 70% and 80% of visitors are foreigners, and the store offers interpretation services in six languages. The number of customers purchasing at its beauty select shop rose from 200 in its opening month to 850 in June. Accordingly, the operating company AAC Holdings is reviewing new store openings in Busan, Los Angeles (LA) in the United States, and Tokyo, Japan. Juno Hair and Lifestyle Project are also expanding their businesses into hair wellness and curation-style pharmacy spaces, joining the K-wellness trend.

3. 'Vanishing Tacit Knowledge' Urgently Needs Digitizing, but Only 0.1% of SMEs Have Adopted Manufacturing AI

- Key Summary: According to a survey by the Korea National Root Industry Promotion Center, as of 2024, of the 744,543 workers in root industries, skilled workers aged 50 and older accounted for 36.8%, while those under 30 accounted for only 10.3%, raising growing concerns over a break in technical skills. As a result, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 'Manufacturing Tacit Knowledge-Based AI Model Development Project' drew applications from 143 consortiums, recording a competition ratio of 4.77 to 1. However, a survey by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups found that only 0.1% of all companies have adopted manufacturing AI, and only 0.8% have a dedicated organization. Meanwhile, skilled workers are showing reluctance to participate in data learning out of concern that AI could replace their jobs.

4. 'Skilled Workers as Instructors to Train AI': Honoring Master Craftsmen to Prevent Skill Loss

- Key Summary: The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is pursuing the establishment of a 'Manufacturing Data Library' that standardizes and stores companies' manufacturing data, while the Ministry of Science and ICT has launched a 34 billion won 'Physical AI Leading Technology Development Project.' POSCO is selecting skilled technicians as 'POSCO Master Craftsmen' to honor them and is pursuing measures to convert their tacit knowledge into digital assets. Hanwha Ocean (042660), together with Ndotlight and Airobot, is conducting demonstrations in which workers' motion data is taught to robots at shipbuilding sites. However, some point out that it will be difficult to draw cooperation from the field unless compensation and employment stability systems for skilled workers are established.

5. Policy That Understands Consumers' Minds

- Key Summary: According to behavioral economics, consumers' choices are influenced more by psychological framing than by rational calculation, and the devices that induce such choices are called 'nudges.' The case in which some companies raised vehicle prices immediately after electric vehicle subsidy policies were confirmed illustrates how the 'anchoring effect' dulls consumers' psychological resistance. Also introduced was the case in which, after large supermarkets' mandatory closures, consumers grew accustomed to online dawn delivery, changing the competitive order of the distribution market. The column pointed out that a policy's success or failure depends not only on institutional design but also on how accurately it understands the market and consumer psychology.

6. [Exclusive] Amorepacific to Sell Anseong Health Functional Food Factory With '200 Billion Won Annual Output'

- Key Summary: Amorepacific has sent out a request for proposal (RFP) to select a lead manager for the sale of its health functional food factory in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, which has annual production capacity in the 200 billion won range. The Anseong factory's production capacity last year was 204.7 billion won, showing a downward trend from 260.1 billion won in 2023, and the company plans to consolidate health functional food production at its Osan factory. This is part of capital efficiency efforts to advance its 'inner beauty' business, with the global inner beauty market expected to grow from $4.2 billion (about 5.7 trillion won) last year to $13.1 billion (about 18 trillion won) by 2034. Meanwhile, competitors such as APR (278470) and LG Household & Health Care (051900) are also expanding their inner beauty product lines, intensifying market competition.