LG CNS

South Korean IT giant LG CNS announced on October 6 that it has begun offering KITL, a blockchain platform for financial institutions. It is being provided as a common foundation for banks, securities firms, card companies and others to build services using stablecoins, security tokens, and real-world assets. KITL includes functions needed to custody digital assets, such as electronic wallets, transaction processing on the blockchain, and collection of transaction histories, and its electronic wallet uses technology employed in Project Hangang, the digital currency pilot led by the Bank of Korea. LG CNS has also formed business partnerships with five companies: Circle, the issuer of the US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC; Securitize, which operates a digital securities platform; Canton Foundation; Chainalysis; and Chainlink. By combining these companies' technologies with KITL, it will support financial institutions in building digital asset services. South Korea is also moving forward with regulatory groundwork to allow stocks, bonds, funds and other assets to be issued and traded on the blockchain, with the relevant law scheduled to take effect on February 4, 2027, and LG CNS says it will prepare an environment in which financial institutions can launch services in step with the law's implementation.

LG CNS showcased its digital ad optimization solution, LG Optapex, at ASD Market Week in Las Vegas, targeting sellers on the Amazon marketplace in North America. The solution, powered by agentic AI and mathematical optimization, automates the entire advertising campaign lifecycle, from strategy to execution and analysis. Launched in North America in the first half of 2025, LG Optapex is used by approximately 190 companies in the U.S., South Korea, China, and other markets. LG CNS reported that a U.S. gaming gear seller improved its Return on Ad Spend by about 40%, while a UK beauty products seller achieved a ROAS of 129% and an 8-fold increase in ad-attributed revenue. The company aims to establish itself as a key AI transformation partner in e-commerce.

South Korea's largest bank, KB Kookmin Bank, is collaborating with JPMorgan Chase to launch a blockchain-based cross-border payment service using JPMorgan's Kinexys platform. The service will handle corporate dollar payments and does not require customers to own cryptocurrency or manage a wallet. Separately, South Korean trading giant POSCO International and LG CNS are testing tokenized trade receivables on the Injective network. Both initiatives reflect a trend of major institutions adopting blockchain technology as underlying infrastructure without direct exposure to decentralized tokens.

Anthropic opened a Seoul office and announced a series of partnerships across South Korea's artificial intelligence ecosystem as the Claude developer expands in Asia ahead of a public listing. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT to collaborate on public-sector AI adoption, model safety testing, and cybersecurity threats. Major business groups including LG CNS, Hanwha Solutions, and Samsung SDS are deploying Claude, while NAVER uses Claude Code for software development and Nexon has integrated Claude into game development workflows. Anthropic will also provide Claude access to about 60 researchers at South Korea's National AI Research Lab for work on AI safety and frontier research. The Seoul office is led by Kiyoung Choi, who joined in May as Representative Director of Korea from Snowflake.

Paris-based startup Genesis AI, backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled an AI-powered industrial robot called Eno and announced a partnership with LG CNS to deploy it to industrial customers by year-end. The general-purpose robot is capable of reasoning, adapting, and owning outcomes beyond predefined tasks, with Schmidt highlighting its fast decision-making speed demonstrated by piano-playing dexterity. Genesis AI will work with LG CNS, the consulting and IT services arm of LG Group, to develop specific uses for the robot. The startup raised $105 million last year from backers including Khosla Ventures, Eclipse Capital, and HSG, the fund formerly known as Sequoia China, and is currently raising additional funds.