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OpenAI CEO Visits South Korea as Country Seeks to Encourage AI Development 

OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman gestures while speaking at University College London as part of his world tour of speaking engagements in London, on May 24, 2023. (AP)
OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman gestures while speaking at University College London as part of his world tour of speaking engagements in London, on May 24, 2023. (AP)
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OpenAI CEO Visits South Korea as Country Seeks to Encourage AI Development 

OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman gestures while speaking at University College London as part of his world tour of speaking engagements in London, on May 24, 2023. (AP)
OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman gestures while speaking at University College London as part of his world tour of speaking engagements in London, on May 24, 2023. (AP)

Open AI Chief Executive Sam Altman is set to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, as the country seeks to encourage domestic competitiveness in artificial intelligence.

After crisscrossing Europe last month meeting lawmakers and national leaders to discuss the prospects and threats of AI, Altman has travelled to Israel, Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India and South Korea - all this week.

"People are focused on not stifling innovation, and that any regulatory framework has got to make sure that the benefits of this technology come to the world," Altman said as he met with about 100 South Korean startups on Friday.

The rapid development and popularity of generative AI since Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI launched ChatGPT last year is spurring lawmakers globally to formulate laws to address safety concerns linked to the technology.

The European Union is moving ahead with its draft AI Act, which is expected to become law this year, while the United States is leaning toward adapting existing laws for AI rather than creating new legislation.

South Korea has new AI regulations awaiting full parliament approval; those rules are seen as less restrictive than the EU's.

In February, a parliament committee passed an AI law draft that guarantees freedom to release AI products and services, and will only restrict them if regulators deem any product to be harming the lives, safety, and rights of people.

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT announced in April plans focused on fostering local AI development, such as measures to provide training datasets for sophisticated "hyperscale" AI, while continuing discussions on AI ethics and regulations.

South Korea is one of few countries that has developed its own foundation models for artificial intelligence in a field dominated by the United States and China, thanks to local tech firms such as Naver, Kakao, and LG .

The companies are seeking ways to tap niche or specialized markets that have not yet been addressed by big tech in the United States or China.

"In order for Korean companies to have strength in the global AI ecosystem, each company must first secure specialized technology for vertical AI," or AI designed and optimized for specific uses, said LG AI Research chief Kyunghoon Bae.

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Technology

Uber, Lyft to Test Baidu Robotaxis in UK from Next Year 

A sign of Baidu is pictured at the company's headquarters in Beijing, China March 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A sign of Baidu is pictured at the company's headquarters in Beijing, China March 16, 2023. (Reuters)
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Uber, Lyft to Test Baidu Robotaxis in UK from Next Year 

A sign of Baidu is pictured at the company's headquarters in Beijing, China March 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A sign of Baidu is pictured at the company's headquarters in Beijing, China March 16, 2023. (Reuters)

Uber Technologies and Lyft are teaming up with Chinese tech giant Baidu to try out driverless taxis in the UK next year, marking a major step in the global race to commercialize robotaxis.

It highlights how ride-hailing platforms are accelerating autonomous rollout through partnerships, positioning London as an early proving ground for large-scale robotaxi services ‌in Europe.

Lyft, meanwhile, plans ‌to deploy Baidu's ‌autonomous ⁠vehicles in Germany ‌and the UK under its platform, pending regulatory approval. Both companies have abandoned in-house development of autonomous vehicles and now rely on alliances to accelerate adoption.

The partnerships underscore how global robotaxi rollouts are gaining momentum. ⁠Alphabet's Waymo said in October it would start ‌tests in London this ‍month, while Baidu ‍and WeRide have launched operations in the ‍Middle East and Switzerland.

Robotaxis promise safer, greener and more cost-efficient rides, but profitability remains uncertain. Public companies like Pony.ai and WeRide are still loss-making, and analysts warn the economics of expensive fleets could pressure margins ⁠for platforms such as Uber and Lyft.

Analysts have said hybrid networks, mixing robotaxis with human drivers, may be the most viable model to manage demand peaks and pricing.

Lyft completed its $200 million acquisition of European taxi app FreeNow from BMW and Mercedes-Benz in July, marking its first major expansion beyond North America and ‌giving the US ride-hailing firm access to nine countries across Europe.

Technology

Italy Fines Apple Nearly 100m Euros over App Privacy Feature

An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Italy Fines Apple Nearly 100m Euros over App Privacy Feature

An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Italy's competition authority said Monday it had fined US tech giant Apple 98 million euros ($115 million) for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the mobile app market.

According to AFP, the AGCM said in a statement that Apple had violated privacy regulations for third-party developers in a market where it "holds a super-dominant position through its App Store".

The body said its investigation had established the "restrictive nature" of the "privacy rules imposed by Apple... on third-party developers of apps distributed through the App Store".

The rules of Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) "are imposed unilaterally and harm the interests of Apple's commercial partners", according to the AGCM statement.

French antitrust authorities earlier this year handed Apple a 150-million euro fine over its app tracking privacy feature.

Authorities elsewhere in Europe have also opened similar probes over ATT, which Apple promotes as a privacy safeguard.

The feature, introduced by Apple in 2021, requires apps to obtain user consent through a pop-up window before tracking their activity across other apps and websites.

If they decline, the app loses access to information on that user which enables ad targeting.

Critics have accused Apple of using the system to promote its own advertising services while restricting competitors.

Technology

Sources: Chinese AI Firm MiniMax to Launch Hong Kong IPO in Early January

FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Sources: Chinese AI Firm MiniMax to Launch Hong Kong IPO in Early January

FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Chinese AI firm MiniMax is seeking to launch a Hong Kong initial public offering in early January, which could raise as much as $700 million, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

MiniMax said in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing on Sunday it had passed the bourse's listing hearing.

The offering size is not finalized however, one of the sources said, as it would depend on market conditions and investor interest. Sources expect it to be at least $500 million.

MiniMax declined to comment. The sources declined to be named as the information was confidential.

The company ⁠would be targeting a valuation of over $4 billion in the float, sources had told Reuters in July.

IFR first reported on Monday the company would launch its IPO in the week of January 5 and raise around $600 million.

MiniMax is among the first batch of Chinese artificial intelligence companies to seek a public listing in Hong Kong.

Other companies ⁠including Biren Technology, Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor Co and Zhipu AI could also be launching their offerings in the coming weeks, after securing a green light from regulators.

The rise of DeepSeek, China's answer to ChatGPT, this year has boosted investor interest in domestic AI products and in the sector.

Earlier this month, the IPOs of AI chip firms Moore Thread and MetaX were thousands of times oversubscribed. Share prices of both companies surged multiple times on their debut.

Founded in early 2022 by former SenseTime executive Yan Junjie, MiniMax has emerged as one of ⁠China's prominent AI companies during the generative AI boom.

The company, backed by the Alibaba Group, develops multimodal AI models including MiniMax M1, Hailuo-02, Speech-02 and Music-01, which can process text, audio, images, video and music.

The firm said in the Sunday stock exchange filing that monthly active user figures for its products had risen from 3.1 million in 2023 to 19.1 million in 2024, and to 27.6 million by the end of September 2025.

It posted an unaudited adjusted loss of $186 million for the first nine months of 2025, compared with $170 million for the same period last year, the filing showed.