Samsung Leads Korea in AI Strength, But Lags Far Behind U.S. and China Tech Giants

Top 10 Korean Companies in AI Competitiveness (Image courtesy of CEO Score)

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics has emerged as South Korea’s dominant force in artificial intelligence, ranking far ahead of domestic rivals Naver and LG, according to a new industry analysis. Yet even the nation’s top firms remain far behind American and Chinese tech giants in global AI competitiveness.

The study, released Tuesday by corporate data research firm CEO Score, evaluated 191 Korean companies based on six categories: patent activity, patent citations, academic publications, research influence, AI-related workforce, and AI-specialized personnel.

Samsung on Top Domestically
Samsung scored a perfect 600 points, taking first place in every category with 1,079 registered patents, 1,347 citations, 59 papers at major AI conferences, and a workforce of more than 50,000 in AI roles. Naver placed second with 162.9 points, supported by strong academic output, while LG ranked third at 155.9 points, bolstered by both patents and research papers.

Other firms in the top ten included Krafton, KT, Coupang, Hyundai Motor, Samsung SDS, SK Telecom and StradVision. By sector, Samsung, LG and Hyundai led in manufacturing; Naver and Coupang in internet platforms; and Samsung SDS, Deep Auto and StradVision in software and IT. Krafton and NCSoft topped the game industry.

This photo provided by Samsung Electronics Co. shows its theme, “AI for All,” for CES 2024 at the company’s showroom at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, to be held on Jan. 9-12, 2024. (Yonhap)

Global Gap Remains Wide
Despite their domestic dominance, Korean firms remain distant followers on the global stage. Alphabet published 820 papers in the world’s three leading AI conferences last year, followed by Microsoft (414), Meta (385) and Amazon (273). Chinese companies such as ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei also placed high.

Samsung’s 59 publications ranked just 12th worldwide, while Naver (25) and LG (19) were 30th and 40th, respectively. Only Samsung (39th) and Naver (47th) appeared in the global top 50 by citation count.

The findings highlight South Korea’s urgent need to scale up AI capabilities at a national level if it hopes to compete with global leaders.

Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)