AI NewsWaveOct. 18 AI Briefing: SK Chairman's Startup Advice to Young People and DeepSeek's V4.1 Update
Key points
- Young people's skills in the AI era and the challenge of managing AI adoption take center stage
- Model news including a DeepSeek update and an Anthropic economic forecast
- Assessments of Korea's economy tied to the chip and AI boom keep coming
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won urged young people living in the AI era to take on the challenge of starting a business. IT Chosun and Digital Daily reported on the 18th, citing SK, that Chey said that if he could return to his 20s, he would start a business that solves social problems. Problem-solving ability and the willingness to try again after failure were cited as the skills needed in the AI era.
DeepSeek released an updated version of V4.1-Flash. IT Chosun reported that V4.1-Flash-1017 was released on the 17th and that DeepSeek cited better benchmark performance and faster task completion. AI Times said the update keeps API pricing unchanged and focuses on lowering actual usage costs by reducing the tokens needed for a task.
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark forecast that AI progress could make the U.S. economy grow substantially by 2030. Chosun Biz wrote that gross domestic product would grow by about 50%, while IT Chosun wrote that it could grow by close to 50%. The remarks were made on the 17th (local time) at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok.
The three major global credit rating agencies assessed that the chip and AI boom is supporting Korea's economic growth. Digital Daily reported that the boom offsets concerns about slowing growth, and Chosun Biz reported that the agencies showed interest in the government's plan for using excess tax revenue. Reports also appeared that same day that the IMF forecast Korea's potential growth rate to rise for a second straight year.
Korea NGO Times, citing the IMF's October World Economic Outlook, reported that a second consecutive rise in the potential growth rate would be the first in 40 years, since 1986 and 1987. EBN pointed out that behind the AI boom, the fruits of growth are concentrated in a few large companies and advanced industries.
A survey also showed the burden companies face in managing AI agents. According to Tech M, 87% of CIOs in Korea said IT departments' management capacity cannot keep up with the pace at which employees develop AI agents, and 79% said they cannot continuously measure results.
In security and home appliances, AhnLab said on the 18th that it took part in GovWare 2026 in Singapore from the 13th to the 15th and presented its AI security operations center, among other offerings. Chosun Biz reported that LG Electronics launched the LG PuriCare Hydrotower Max, which manages humidity and air quality with AI, on the 18th.