Amazon Web Services and Anthropic said they will support "in-region" technology that runs Claude's latest artificial intelligence models exclusively in domestic data centers. The two companies signaled their intent to take part closely in AI transformation projects at South Korean financial firms on the strength of that support.
Choi Ki-young, head of Anthropic Korea, and Noh Kyung-hoon, who leads AWS Korea's financial industry and public sector business, laid out the strategy at a press briefing at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul's Jung District on the 27th. In-region refers to an approach that confines an AI model's inference to data centers within a single region. AI services from global companies typically draw on data centers around the world, exchanging data among them. In-region, by contrast, keeps model operation and data processing inside the region and limits sharing with data centers in other regions. Seoul in-region support means storing data and running AI only in AWS's Seoul region.
The companies plan to begin supporting the latest version of Opus, Claude's high-performance model, in the Seoul region. "Once Seoul in-region is supported, companies sensitive to domestic security rules will have a wider range of areas where they can use AI," Choi said. "We can also guarantee security when financial firms have to use AI under specific requirements, such as audit work," he added.
"Right now, personal data in the financial sector cannot leave South Korea," Noh said. "If Claude models are loaded onto Amazon Bedrock in an in-region setup, the volume of data financial firms can use will grow significantly, and they will benefit." He said the sector has been waiting for it, adding that domestic financial firms call every day to ask about Seoul in-region.
Anthropic Korea also disclosed that it is localizing Claude for Financial Services for domestic financial firms. Claude for Financial Services is an AI service Anthropic first unveiled in July last year. It offers functions used in day-to-day work at financial firms, including market analysis, consolidation of financial data and support for investment decisions. "Claude for Financial Services is not suitable for immediate use given domestic policy and market conditions, so we are working with the financial industry on how to tailor the service to the Korean market," Choi said.
