LG Group launched external access to its ChatExaone artificial intelligence platform Tuesday, marking the South Korean conglomerate’s formal entry into the competitive business AI market. The move comes after months of internal validation across the company’s subsidiaries.
The tool, previously deployed only for internal use to verify its accuracy and efficiency, is designed for enterprise and institutional customers rather than individual consumers — a strategic divergence from widely known services such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, according to LG’s announcement at its Seoul headquarters.
Companies, public agencies and academic institutions can now access the platform, which requires verification via corporate email, underscoring LG’s focus on business customers. The company positions ChatExaone as a security-conscious alternative to consumer-focused competitors, emphasizing data protection for corporate users.
Since Exaone’s debut three years ago, LG has integrated the LLM across its subsidiaries, including LG Electronics Inc., LG Chem Ltd. and LG CNS Co., and has secured over 100 billion won ($72 million) worth of AI-related business contracts from the sister firms. However, the financial impact of external commercialization remains unclear as LG has not disclosed pricing or revenue projections for the broader market.
The enterprise AI sector has attracted significant investment from technology giants, with Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI and Google’s enterprise AI offerings setting high competitive benchmarks. LG’s approach differs by targeting Korean-language capabilities and specific industry applications rather than general-purpose consumer use.
The solution is powered by Korean AI semiconductor start-up FuriosaAI, with which LG is co-developing a neural processing unit (NPU) optimized for Exaone’s workloads, indicating the company’s broader ambitions in AI infrastructure beyond software alone.
LG’s AI push reflects Chairman Koo Kwang-mo’s directive to transform the traditionally hardware-focused group into a software-enabled technology company. Whether this transition can generate meaningful revenue streams outside LG’s established manufacturing businesses remains to be tested in the competitive AI marketplace.
