Samsung SDS (018260) and NAVER Cloud are squaring off in defense artificial intelligence transformation projects, following their rivalry in public-sector AI contracts. Competition between the two companies for leadership in the AI transformation market is expected to intensify as both pursue a growing list of defense projects.
Industry attention is turning to which companies will bid for the first phase of the Korea Combined Command and Control System (KCCS), industry sources said on the 26th. The three-stage project aims to build a next-generation command and control system by integrating the communications networks and C4I command and control information systems that each military branch now operates separately. The Army, Navy and Air Force currently use different networks and C4I systems, and the project to unify them is estimated to be worth around 300 billion won ($216 million). The Defense Acquisition Program Administration will hold a preliminary briefing on the KCCS research and development project on the 29th, inviting private companies and outlining specific plans.
Industry watchers expect Samsung SDS and NAVER Cloud to take part once bidding opens in earnest. Samsung SDS has already completed a study on battlefield data integration and intelligence methods for the second phase of KCCS, commissioned by the Agency for Defense Development, and submitted the results to the agency. The company has recently been consulting professors specializing in defense technology as it prepares for the project.
NAVER Cloud also has strong interest in the KCCS project, according to industry sources. In July, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea University's C5ISRT Convergence Research Center on research into core battlefield technologies and joint pursuit of the KCCS project. In the competition to develop the AI platform to be installed in KCCS, NAVER Cloud was selected as a preferred bidder through a consortium formed with Hanwha Systems. The company also recently brought on Kim Sun-ho, former vice defense minister, as a full-time management adviser.
The two companies have already clashed in public-sector AI transformation projects. When government ministries and state-run institutions pursue such projects, they must choose between Samsung SDS's AI collaboration solution Brity Works and NAVER Cloud's NAVER Works. So far, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Planning and Budget, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Financial Services Commission and the Overseas Koreans Agency have confirmed adoption of Brity Works.
Samsung SDS continues to upgrade Brity Works. A new AI feature called Cowork is scheduled to become available in October. The feature allows users to assign work goals, after which it plans the necessary steps on its own and carries out tasks such as research, report writing, sending emails and scheduling. The company said it is designed to let users rely on AI without concerns about security risks such as data leaks.
NAVER Cloud, for its part, has supplied NAVER Works to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Ministry of Science and ICT. "In public-sector AI transformation projects, Samsung SDS moved ahead of NAVER Cloud in user numbers after winning the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education contract," an industry official said. "In defense AI as well, a number of projects have been put out to bid recently, so competition among the companies involved will grow fiercer."
