▲ AI PRISM* Personalized Economic Briefing
* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six news items tailored to each reader type.
[Key Issue Briefing]
■ The Era of AI Native Hiring Begins: Krafton has launched the largest new-graduate recruitment drive in its history, seeking more than 100 hires and placing the assessment of AI skills at the center of the process. Starting with this round, which deploys the company's in-house AI evaluation solution Copa Probe, Krafton plans to make AI native graduate recruitment an annual fixture.
■ Humanoids Take Their First Step Onto Factory Floors: With the government easing rules, 20 bipedal humanoid robots have been deployed for the first time in real operations at semiconductor, automobile, shipbuilding and logistics sites. Unlike fixed robots, they move through the same space as workers and handle a range of tasks, and demand for engineers skilled in combining robotics and AI is expected to expand quickly.
■ The Battle Over AI Platforms Heats Up: Kakao has entered the global AI race in earnest, turning KakaoTalk into an integrated platform for AI agents. Analysts say the spread of hyper-personalized AI services built on data from 50 million users will drive the creation of new roles across the IT and platform sector.
[News of Interest to University Students and Job Seekers]
1. Krafton to Hire Record Number of AI Talent: 'More Than 100 to Be Selected'
Key points: Krafton will select more than 100 AI native entry-level hires through its 2027 Krafton Hire-Track Internship program. Applications are open from the 13th to the 23rd of this month, with various tests and interviews in November and December and final results announced in January next year. Recruitment covers six job families, including AI research, tech, support, business and game development (programming and planning), and the company's in-house solution Copa Probe will be used to assess AI skills. Successful applicants will join in February next year and work for five months in their assigned roles before a decision on conversion to full-time employment in July.
2. From Chip Cleaning to Logistics Handling: First 20 Humanoids Deployed in Real Operations
Key points: Following a regulatory sandbox review by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, 20 AI-based bipedal humanoid robots made by Robros have been deployed in real operations across four industries at Nepes, Sungwoo Hitech, HD Hyundai Samho and Delivery Lab. Unlike existing industrial robots, which were separated from workers by safety fences, these humanoids move alongside workers while simultaneously performing cleaning, transport and stacking. Global competition is also intensifying, with Shanghai targeting the deployment of 8,000 humanoids in factories by 2028. As domestic semiconductor, automobile and shipbuilding plants emerge as spaces for generating humanoid training data, demand for engineers combining robotics and AI is expected to grow sharply.
3. 'Ryan' as the Nation's Assistant: KakaoTalk Evolves Into an AI Agent Platform
Key points: At its if(kakao)26 conference, Kakao unveiled AI Agent Kanana Space, which turns KakaoTalk into an AI assistant platform. It also announced Kanvas, which lets users build their own agents, and Project Mosaic, which links memory across services. Kanana Space will begin a pilot service in December. The company also plans to deploy Kanana-o, its in-house AI model that processes Korean 1.6 times more efficiently than competing global models. With the platform shift to AI underway across a base of 50 million users, hiring for AI and platform roles at Kakao affiliates is expected to gain momentum.
[Reference News for University Students and Job Seekers]
Key points: Hacking attempts against the National Pension Service totaled 191,285 from January to August this year, up 275.5% from the same period last year. Yet staff dedicated to information security number just nine, or 5.36% of all IT personnel, half the 10% standard set by the National Intelligence Service. Even with two additional specialist contract hires planned for next year, the agency will remain six short of the standard. With a shortage of security specialists evident even at a public institution managing a fund worth about 1,800 trillion won, hiring demand in cybersecurity is expected to rise, led by the public and financial sectors.
5. [Exclusive] AIO Rides Semiconductor Upturn to Unicorn Status After 15 Years
Key points: AIO, a fabless company making NAND flash controllers, has become a unicorn with a valuation of 1.2 trillion won. Its value has more than quadrupled in just a few months from the 200 billion to 300 billion won range earlier this year. With first-half revenue of 150 billion won and operating profit of 45 billion won, it overtook rival FADU (revenue of 132.7 billion won), and it is pursuing a KOSDAQ listing as early as this year. As a case of a chip design startup founded by veterans of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix taking off alongside surging AI demand, it has renewed attention on opportunities in semiconductor fabless startups.
Key points: The number of unstaffed stores nationwide jumped from 6,323 in 2023 to 9,030 in 2024, while the share of restaurants using self-order machines climbed from 4.5% in 2021 to 13.0% in 2025. At restaurants that introduced kiosks, sales and serving staff fell 11.5%, with workers aged 29 and under down 23.1%. As the minimum wage rose 18.3% over five years, from 8,720 won in 2021 to 10,320 won this year, owners have moved faster to go unstaffed. As automation of simple, repetitive tasks spreads, the service and retail sectors are being reshaped in a way that relatively favors workers with non-routine skills such as judgment, communication and handling exceptions.
