South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday for talks to explore ways to extend cooperation with the US company in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital ecosystems, Yoon’s office said.
Yoon said South Korea’s portfolio of smart home appliances, wearable devices and smart cars offered a superb platform for Meta’s AI technology.
The president also promised support for business tie ups and expressed hope for greater collaboration in areas just like the metaverse and prolonged reality (XR) headsets, it said.
“The 2 discussed the vision for creating open AI and digital ecosystems and strengthen cooperation between Meta and our firms,” Yoon’s policy chief, Sung Tae-yoon, told a briefing.
“The president said that the Korean industry is able to actively support what Meta has imagined and designed.”
Metaa CEO Mark Zuckerberg shakes hands with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during his visit to Seoul on Feb. 29, 2024. AP
Yoon also asked Meta to play an energetic role monitoring and countering fake news and other malpractices on its platforms as many countries gear up for elections this yr, Sung said.
Meta didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
On Wednesday, Zuckerberg met Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and LG Electronics CEO William Cho to debate potential cooperation in AI and XR technology.
Meta launched its latest mixed-reality headset, Quest 3, in June before rival Apple ramped up competition this month with its Vision Pro device.
AI chip supply and expanding ecosystems for generative AI are key priorities for Meta this yr, as the corporate seeks to get generative AI technology into its social media products and hardware devices.
South Korea has announced measures to foster local AI development, including investments to offer text data for giant language models, core AI technology and large-capacity computing resources, in addition to projects to embed AI, in accordance with the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Yoon asked Meta to play an energetic role monitoring and countering fake news and other malpractices on its platforms as many countries gear up for elections this yr. AP
South Korea will host a world AI Safety Summit in May.
Zuckerberg is on his first publicly known visit to South Korea in about 10 years, as a part of an Asian tour that features stops in Japan and India.
