LG chairman presses executives to accelerate AI

LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo urged top executives from the group's main affiliates to define artificial intelligence as a core standard for the company and move quickly to win in the technology race that matters most for people.

Koo made the remarks at a meeting of LG's CEO council on Wednesday at the LG Academy in Icheon, Gyeonggi, where 40 executives from LG Corporation and affiliates including LG Electronics, LG Display, LG Innotek, LG Chem, LG Energy Solution and LG U plus gathered to discuss the group's investment strategy in the AI era.

The meeting stretched about eight hours. Executives reviewed past investment results and strategy in what LG calls its core AI battlegrounds: AI factories, physical AI, semiconductors covering materials and substrates, and AX, or AI transformation.

“AI is no longer an area we can choose whether to respond to,” Koo said. “It is a core axis that will determine our future competitiveness. I want the CEO council to move with speed and execute relentlessly so we can win where it matters most in AI.”

Executives agreed that investment decisions need a clear direction and portfolio strategy behind them, backed by sharper scenario planning and verification as the market, competition and technology keep shifting under them.

Debate over how fast LG should be moving on AI investment hasn't let up, but the executives agreed the group's approach should stay focused on people rather than the technology itself, with the goal of actually improving quality of life.

LG holds CEO council meetings each quarter around a core agenda: AX in March, research and development in June and investment strategy in September, as part of efforts to upgrade its business portfolio.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]