Lee Jae-yong, the Chairman of Samsung Electronics, attended the ‘AI (artificial intelligence) Seoul Summit’ on May 21 and expressed his interest in cooperating with the international community on building a safe, innovative, and inclusive AI. 

According to Samsung Electronics, Chairman Lee gave a virtual presentation and stated, “AI is not only affecting the industrial innovation and economic growth, but also fundamentally changing the way we live, work, and communicate with the world.” 

President Yoon Suk Yeol listens attentively to the presentation by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong during the leaders’ session of the ‘AI Seoul Summit’ from the Yeongbingwan inside Cheong Wa Dae. / Photo provided by the Office of the President

Chairman Lee emphasized that “Responsibly applying the advantages of AI is of the utmost importance,” adding “Talks for minimizing the misuse of AI and maximizing the benefits of AI should be held around the world.” 

The AI Seoul Summit is the second meeting following the discussions from the ‘AI Safety Summit’ held at Bletchley Park, United Kingdom in November 2023, which was co-hosted by Korea and the UK.

The summit was attended virtually by leaders of the G7 states including President Yoon Seuk Yeol and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as well as representatives of international major tech companies including Samsung, Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Naver. 

The theme of the current summit, ‘For an innovative and inclusive future from the basis of the AI safety summit,’ expands the scope of discussions from the last summit held in the UK last November, which focused on AI safety, to include innovation and inclusion. 

Chairman Lee described the core value of Samsung as ‘Contributing to the human society through technology,’ explaining the efforts made by Samsung for innovation and inclusion. 

Chairman Lee stated, “One of the core missions of Samsung is contributing to the human society through technology,” saying “Samsung is working effortlessly to support engineers around the world and educate the youth, thereby reducing the technological inequality and gap within the society and between nations.” 

Chairman Lee added that all companies, societies, and ultimately the entire human race will be able to enjoy the benefits of AI by the technologies and products of Samsung. 

One example mentioned by Chairman Lee was the benefits of high efficiency & low power semiconductors, which support the companies by reducing the cost and energy consumptions when developing and providing AI services. 

Chairman Lee further stated that Samsung will integrate AI technologies into its services and products to enhance the accessibility and inclusivity in environmentally sustainable methods. 

Chairman Lee emphasized, “Samsung will actively cooperate with the global community to develop a safe, inclusive, and sustainable AI technologies.” 

Chairman Lee concluded his speech by proposing that AI should be utilized as a tool to build a better future not only for the current generation, but also for the future generations as well. 

Samsung Electronics has been pursuing the development of AI technologies and products on Chairman Lee’s management philosophy of ‘placing humans at the core of technology’ and ‘developing technologies which benefits humanity’. 

Samsung has been annually hosting ‘AI Forum’ to hear from renowned scholars around the world and discuss the direction of future AI technology. During the last year’s 7th AI Forum, the key topics were safety, trust, and sustainability. 

Samsung is leading the on-device AI market by releasing Galaxy S24, the world’s first AI smartphone. 

On-device AI enables higher levels of control and utilization over the users’ data, providing a significantly higher level of safety compared to cloud-based AI. 

Samsung is also working to develop technologies which will benefit everyone with the slogan, ‘AI for all’. 

The Bespoke AI products by Samsung Electronics are equipped with features such as controlling the doors with a light touch or manipulating the device with voice commands. 

After attending a demonstration of the AI companion Robot ‘Ballie’ at Suwon Digital City last March, Chairman Lee asked for “ways to integrate with Galaxy wearable products,” and requested for “features to help elderly people living alone.” 

Written by Woo Hyun Cho

Translated by Dong Jae Lee