Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won, right, and Konan Technology CEO Kim Young-sum pose after signing a defense and manufacturing artificial intelligence partnership agreement in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Courtesy of Naver Cloud
Naver Cloud is strengthening security and domain expertise in the defense and manufacturing sectors, forming a new partnership with artificial intelligence (AI) software firm Konan Technology.
The tech company announced Friday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Konan Technology to collaborate on defense and manufacturing-focused large language models (LLMs) and physical AI, as part of a broader effort to expand its generative AI ecosystem.
Under the partnership, the two companies will build AI models optimized for national defense and manufacturing, where security and domain expertise are critical, and develop a practical framework for adopting physical AI to drive intelligent automation across industrial sites.
Naver Cloud said it plans to use its full-stack AI capabilities with Konan Technology’s agentic AI innovation strategy to accelerate AI transformation in key strategic industries.
“Through close collaboration with Konan Technology, we aim to create a new AI partnership model that combines defense and manufacturing-specialized LLMs with physical AI technologies,” Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won said.
“Leveraging Naver Cloud’s stable cloud infrastructure and AI technologies, we will continue to expand our AI ecosystem that can be practically deployed in real industrial environments.”
With the new agreement, the two companies will deepen technical cooperation in several core AI areas. They will jointly develop specialized datasets and models for defense and manufacturing applications.
They will also create industrial intelligent solutions that integrate LLM and physical AI technologies, enabling real-world industrial digital transformation across manufacturing and defense sites.
“We’ve been exploring practical ways to expand the use of generative AI on the ground and to secure ‘AI sovereignty’ for Korea’s strategic industries through homegrown technologies,” Konan Technology CEO Kim Young-sum said. “I’m very pleased that our vision aligns with Naver Cloud’s. And by bringing together our homegrown AI capabilities, we intend to deliver the optimal blueprint for industrial intelligence built on physical AI.”
The two companies will further explore technical integrations that allow Konan Technology’s AI solutions to operate seamlessly and securely on Naver Cloud’s advanced cloud infrastructure. Based on those capabilities, they plan to pursue joint business opportunities.
