U.S. artificial intelligence company Anthropic officially launched its Seoul office, marking its entry into the South Korean market. However, it did not provide specific answers regarding recent controversies surrounding access restrictions to its advanced AI models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, as well as Project Glasswing.
On June 17, Anthropic held a press conference at the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido, where it outlined its reasons for entering the South Korean market and its business strategies. The event featured Ankris Chauri, Global Head of Anthropic, and Choi Gi-young, CEO of Anthropic Korea. Tom Brown, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, was unable to attend due to commitments in the U.S.
Chauri emphasized, "The AI Basic Law in South Korea aligns with Anthropic's philosophy of promoting safe technological development," expressing enthusiasm about the company's expansion into the country.
During the event, numerous questions arose regarding the access restrictions for Mythos 5 and Fable 5, as well as the status of Project Glasswing. Chauri responded, "The issues of bypassing safety measures or jailbreaking apply to all models in the industry. This situation is a limited case." He added, "Currently, there is nothing more we can share."
With the launch of its Seoul office, Anthropic aims to strengthen connections with local businesses and the developer ecosystem. Prior to the public event, the company hosted a private gathering for key industry stakeholders, including representatives from major South Korean firms such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and SK Telecom.
Choi stated, "We began the launch event for the Seoul office yesterday and discussed AI utilization and collaboration opportunities with Korean companies." He further noted, "Tomorrow, we plan to hold a developer event to expand our engagement with the local developer community."
According to Anthropic, South Korea ranks 12th globally in terms of per capita usage of Claude among 116 countries. Choi remarked, "This indicates a significant number of users are utilizing Claude, particularly in both technical and creative tasks."
Anthropic is also looking to strengthen partnerships not only with businesses and the developer community but also with research institutions and nonprofit organizations. To support this, the company plans to provide Claude to researchers at the National AI Research Lab (NAIRL) to aid in key studies on AI safety, model evaluation, alignment, and robustness. Choi mentioned, "We are researching safe AI development in collaboration with KAIST, Korea University, Yonsei University, and POSTECH, and we plan to provide Claude free of charge to researchers."
To differentiate itself from OpenAI, which has already entered the South Korean market, Anthropic is focusing on partnerships with systems integrators (SI). Choi stated, "Through Claude, we will support developers in enhancing productivity and delivering results to customers more quickly, and strengthening SI partnerships will be a key competitive advantage."
Chauri highlighted, "Our focus on safety and the enterprise market is Anthropic's strength," asserting, "We are leaders in the enterprise AI market." He noted that the current market share in the enterprise sector is approximately 40%, with revenues reaching $47 billion during last month's investment round.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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