LG kicks off SPARK 2024 to share AI, new tech with Big Tech, startups

LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-biggest conglomerate, is holding a three-week multifaceted technology innovation festival to share ideas on new technology, including artificial intelligence, with global Big Tech companies and startups.

LG Corp., LG Group's holding company, is hosting the event, LG SPARK 2024, at LG Science Park in Seoul.

LG opened the forum on Monday with a two-day tech fair, bringing together R&D staff from eight LG affiliates including LG Electronics Inc., LG Chem Ltd. and LG Energy Solution Ltd., and tech experts from partner firms and startups to discuss future technologies and share insights.

LG Group said it has set up 60 booths to facilitate discussions at the event. showcasing its latest tech achievements in six sectors, including AI, biotechnology, clean tech and mobility.

LG has invited external experts such as Kim Sang-bae, professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT; Lee Sang-yup, senior vice president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST); and Kang Ki-suk, professor of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University to speak at tech seminars during the two-day tech fair.

OTHER EVENTS AT LG SPARK 2024

The tech fair will be followed by the DX Fair to share the digital transformation (DX) achievements of each affiliate, Super Start Day to showcase promising startups and the LG Software Developer Conference.

During the DX Fair, the achievements of 32 DX projects by LG affiliates will be on display. 

Bae Kyung-hoon, head of LG AI Research Institute, is slated to give a speech on Exaone 3.0, LG’s proprietary hyperscale AI, to event participants.

He will also present ChatExaone, an enterprise AI agent based on an open-sourced AI large language model (AI LLM).

LG said some 40 startups, including KL Cube Co., which automatically translates Korean sign language using AI technology, and Voinosis Co., an AI firm that analyzes the acoustic characteristics of dementia patients' voices, will attend Super Start Day after a pre-contest.

Green Continue, an LG-fostered startup that makes plant-based leather products, and 11 other startup companies are slated to present their innovations. 

BIG TECH PARTICIPANTS

At the LG Software Developer Conference, participants will share software technologies in eight fields, including AI, big data, mobility, automobiles, platforms and architecture.

LG said developers from Big Tech companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Qualcomm and AWS will participate.

“We will hold the LG SPARK event annually to introduce new technologies and share new ideas,” said Park Il-pyung, LG Electronics president and head of LG Science Park.

Write to Eui-Myung Park at uimyung@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.