Anthropic opens Seoul office and forges partnerships across South Korea's AI ecosystem

Anthropic Eyes South Korea Growth Ahead Of IPO With Seoul Office, New Partnerships - HANWA CO LTD ORD by

Anthropic said Wednesday it had opened a Seoul office and announced a series of partnerships across South Korea's artificial intelligence ecosystem as the Claude developer expands its presence in Asia. As the company prepares for a public listing, Anthropic said South Korea has emerged as one of Claude's most active markets globally, with usage concentrated in technical and creative work. Public And Private Sector Partnerships Anthropic said it 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 efforts to address AI-related cybersecurity threats. Major South Korean business groups were deploying Claude through affiliates including LG CNS, Hanwha Solutions and Samsung SDS, Anthropic said, with employees using the AI assistant for software development, knowledge work and enterprise operations. The company added that internet giant NAVER, often referred to as South Korea's Google, was also using Claude Code to accelerate software development, while Nexon has deployed Claude across game development workflows. Academic Research Collaboration The company said it would work with South Korea's National AI Research Lab to provide Claude access to researchers working on AI safety, model evaluation, alignment and frontier AI research. The initiative will provide Claude access to about 60 researchers. Startup Initiatives As part of its South Korea expansion, Anthropic said it was holding its first Seoul Builder Summit with AI startup Coxwave, aimed at developers, startups and businesses using Claude. The company's 'Claude for Startups' program, which is currently live in the country, is designed to provide early-stage companies with model credits, technical support and access to Anthropic's AI tools. The Seoul office will be headed by Kiyoung Choi, who joined Anthropic in May as Representative Director of Korea from Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW). The international expansion comes as Anthropic seeks to restore access to some of its most advanced AI models following new export-control order. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo Courtesy: Stockinq on Shutterstock.com Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Anthropic opens Seoul office to expand ties with Korean AI ecosystem - The Korea Times

Anthropic Korea Representative Director Choi Ki-young speaks during a press conference marking the opening of the company's Seoul office at the Conrad Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Anthropic U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic opened its Seoul office on Wednesday, as the operator of Claude seeks to expand its ties with Korea's AI ecosystem. "Korean companies and institutions recognize innovation and safety as goals that must go hand in hand, not a contradicting value," Anthropic Korea Representative Director Choi Ki-young said during a press conference. "Various organizations in the country are using Claude to create positive changes in the lives of millions of people around the world, and the opening of the Seoul office reflects our commitment to build a long-term foundation for collaboration with those leading Korea's AI ecosystem." Choi, who joined Anthropic two weeks ago, is a seasoned expert in Korea's digital infrastructure industry, having served in leadership roles at Google Cloud, Microsoft Korea, Adobe and Snowflake. Anthropic International Managing Director Chris Ciauri said Anthropic believes its ultimate responsibility is AI safety, aligning the company with the Korean government and its AI Framework Act, a law designed to address risks stemming from AI services. "So we see a shared philosophy there, and it's part of the reason that we're so excited to launch a business in Korea," Ciauri said. "We are privileged that as we enter Korea, we've already got tremendous momentum in the enterprise, developer and startup sectors." Anthropic's Seoul office comes as Claude is increasingly present in Korea's enterprise AI ecosystem. Building on its multi-year cooperation with AI service firm WRTN Technologies and legal tech startup Law&Company, Claude has expanded its applications at major conglomerates in recent months. Korea's largest web portal Naver recently introduced Claude Code for its entire engineering unit, marking the largest case of enterprise use in Asia. Game developer Nexon also introduced Claude Code for designing code for its live service games. Anthropic said LG CNS is providing Claude for its employees to develop software and plans to expand coverage to all of LG Group. Samsung SDS is also introducing Claude Cowork and Claude Code for Samsung Electronics employees. To support the growth of Korea's AI ecosystem, Choi said it will cooperate with National AI Research Lab, a research consortium including Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, Korea University, Yonsei University, Pohang University of Science and Technology and other prestigious local institutions. The company has several events for domestic developers, including Claude Build Day, which hosted more than 100 officials and developers from domestic startups on Tuesday. On the sidelines of the press conference, Anthropic brought together officials from major domestic companies in a closed-door meeting and to share its business plans in Korea. Ciauri said company revenue has grown from $9 billion at the end of 2025 to $47 billion as of a few weeks ago, and expects a similar trajectory of growth in Korea. During the press conference, questions were raised about U.S. export controls on Anthropic's advanced cybersecurity models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, and the subsequent ban on Korean institutional access to the models. However, company officials refused to comment on the issue. The controversy later escalated after the Washington Post reported that the export restrictions were linked to concerns over a Korean telecom operator's alleged ties to China.