Samsung Heir Guilty of Bribery, Given 5-Year Jail Sentence

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong arrives to be questioned in the corruption scandal of former president Park Geun-hye. AFP file photo
Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong arrives to be questioned in the corruption scandal of former president Park Geun-hye. AFP file photo
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Samsung Heir Guilty of Bribery, Given 5-Year Jail Sentence

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong arrives to be questioned in the corruption scandal of former president Park Geun-hye. AFP file photo
Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong arrives to be questioned in the corruption scandal of former president Park Geun-hye. AFP file photo

The heir to the Samsung empire, Lee Jae-yong, was convicted of bribery and other offenses Friday and jailed for five years in connection with the scandal that brought down South Korean president Park Geun-Hye after a six-month trial.

Lee's penalty could leave the vast conglomerate, which includes the world's biggest smartphone maker, rudderless and hamper its ability to make key investment decisions for years.

The vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, 49, arrived at Seoul Central District Court on a justice ministry bus handcuffed, bound with white rope around his dark jacket, and carrying an envelope of documents.

Lee was found guilty of bribery, perjury and other charges related to payments Samsung made to Park's secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil.

In total 8.9 billion won ($7.9 million) was paid in bribes in return for favors including government support for Lee's hereditary succession at the group after his father was left bedridden by a heart attack in 2014, the court found.

Lee had denied the charges, with the defense saying that he was not aware of the payments and did not approve them. 

But presiding judge Kim Jin-Dong said: "He offered bribes in response to strong demands by the president."

The court found, however, that Samsung had no alternative but to comply with Park's browbeating in connection with another 22 billion won paid to foundations allegedly controlled by Choi.

Four other top Samsung executives were also convicted, with two jailed for up to four years, and the other pair given suspended terms.

Lee, who re-emerged stony-faced from the courtroom was escorted by justice ministry officials back to his detention
center. 

His lawyers said he would appeal, and supporters demonstrating outside the court broke down in tears.

One of his lawyers, Song Wu-cheol, said: "The entire verdict is unacceptable.”

He added thathe was confident his client's innocence would be affirmed by a higher court.

Samsung is by far the biggest of the chaebols, as the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate Asia's fourth-largest economy are known, with its revenues equivalent to around a fifth of the country's GDP.

But while the economy is still growing, social and economic frustrations have mounted over the benefits not being equally shared and the demonstrators who mounted giant candlelit protests against Park last year also targeted Lee and other chaebol chiefs.

The court was deluged with hundreds of applications for the 30 seats in room 417 available to members of the public, which were allocated by lottery.

Park's own trial began in the same room in May, and it also saw Lee's father Lee Kun-Hee convicted of tax and other offences in 2008, receiving a suspended sentence.

The verdict could add impetus to new President Moon Jae-In's efforts to fulfil his campaign pledges of chaebol reform.



Big Tech on a Quest for Ideal AI Device

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive (L) has joined forces with OpenAI to make a device ideal for engaging with generative artificial intelligence. Matt Winkelmeyer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Former Apple design chief Jony Ive (L) has joined forces with OpenAI to make a device ideal for engaging with generative artificial intelligence. Matt Winkelmeyer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Big Tech on a Quest for Ideal AI Device

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive (L) has joined forces with OpenAI to make a device ideal for engaging with generative artificial intelligence. Matt Winkelmeyer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Former Apple design chief Jony Ive (L) has joined forces with OpenAI to make a device ideal for engaging with generative artificial intelligence. Matt Winkelmeyer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has enlisted the legendary designer behind the iPhone to create an irresistible gadget for using generative artificial intelligence (AI).

The ability to engage digital assistants as easily as speaking with friends is being built into eyewear, speakers, computers and smartphones, but some argue that the Age of AI calls for a transformational new gizmo.

"The products that we're using to deliver and connect us to unimaginable technology are decades old," former Apple chief design officer Jony Ive said when his alliance with OpenAI was announced.

"It's just common sense to at least think, surely there's something beyond these legacy products."

Sharing no details, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said that a prototype Ive shared with him "is the coolest piece of technology that the world will have ever seen."

According to several US media outlets, the device won't have a screen, nor will it be worn like a watch or broach.

Kyle Li, a professor at The New School, said that since AI is not yet integrated into people's lives, there is room for a new product tailored to its use.

The type of device won't be as important as whether the AI innovators like OpenAI make "pro-human" choices when building the software that will power them, said Rob Howard of consulting firm Innovating with AI

Learning from flops

The industry is well aware of the spectacular failure of the AI Pin, a square gadget worn like a badge packed with AI features but gone from the market less than a year after its debut in 2024 due to a dearth of buyers.

The AI Pin marketed by startup Humane to incredible buzz was priced at $699.

Now, Meta and OpenAI are making "big bets" on AI-infused hardware, according to CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood.

OpenAI made a multi-billion-dollar deal to bring Ive's startup into the fold.

Google announced early this year it is working on mixed-reality glasses with AI smarts, while Amazon continues to ramp up Alexa digital assistant capabilities in its Echo speakers and displays.

Apple is being cautious embracing generative AI, slowly integrating it into iPhones even as rivals race ahead with the technology. Plans to soup up its Siri chatbot with generative AI have been indefinitely delayed.

The quest for creating an AI interface that people love "is something Apple should have jumped on a long time ago," said Futurum research director Olivier Blanchard.

Time to talk

Blanchard envisions some kind of hub that lets users tap into AI, most likely by speaking to it and without being connected to the internet.

"You can't push it all out in the cloud," Blanchard said, citing concerns about reliability, security, cost, and harm to the environment due to energy demand.

"There is not enough energy in the world to do this, so we need to find local solutions," he added.

Howard expects a fierce battle over what will be the must-have personal device for AI, since the number of things someone is willing to wear is limited and "people can feel overwhelmed."

A new piece of hardware devoted to AI isn't the obvious solution, but OpenAI has the funding and the talent to deliver, according to Julien Codorniou, a partner at venture capital firm 20VC and a former Facebook executive.

OpenAI recently hired former Facebook executive and Instacart chief Fidji Simo as head of applications, and her job will be to help answer the hardware question.

Voice is expected by many to be a primary way people command AI.

Google chief Sundar Pichai has long expressed a vision of "ambient computing" in which technology blends invisibly into the world, waiting to be called upon.

"There's no longer any reason to type or touch if you can speak instead," Blanchard said.

"Generative AI wants to be increasingly human" so spoken dialogues with the technology "make sense," he added.

However, smartphones are too embedded in people's lives to be snubbed any time soon, said Wood.