LG Uplus Chief Technology Officer Lee Sang-yeob, left, and FuriosaAI CEO June Paik pose after signing a memorandum of understanding to develop Sovereign AI Appliance during MWC 2026 in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday (local time). Courtesy of LG Uplus
LG Uplus is partnering with FuriosaAI to develop an on-premises artificial intelligence (AI) system, Sovereign AI Appliance, designed to keep sensitive corporate data within company infrastructure.
The telecom company announced Sunday that the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding during MWC 2026 in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday (local time) to jointly build Sovereign AI Appliance.
The ready-to-use AI processes data entirely inside corporate networks, eliminating the need for external or public cloud access. Once connected to a power source and an internal network, it can operate immediately without complex server setups or separate AI infrastructure.
The device integrates LG Uplus’s enterprise AI platform, LG AI Research’s large language model EXAONE 4.0 and FuriosaAI’s second-generation RNGD neural processing unit (NPU), known for its high efficiency and low power consumption.
“For AI to be applied in a work environment in real life, it requires not only performance but also strong security and operational reliability,” LG Uplus Chief Technology Officer Lee Sang-yeob said. “Starting with Sovereign AI Appliance, we aim to build a trusted hybrid AI infrastructure for enterprise customers.”
Under the partnership, LG Uplus will design the operating structure that enables enterprise-level document search, summarization, AI-driven task assistance and workflow automation. The company plans to ensure fast search and response capabilities even in closed networks while tailoring the operational model for corporate environments.
FuriosaAI will enhance the inference performance of EXAONE 4.0 using its NPU chip to maintain stable processing even when many users access AI services simultaneously, while reducing both energy usage and overall operating costs.
“This partnership is meaningful as it combines AI model, platform and semiconductor technologies into a unified system that can be deployed directly on industrial sites,” FuriosaAI CEO June Paik said.
The two companies expect that Sovereign AI Appliance will allow secure adoption in industries with limited cloud access, such as defense, healthcare, finance, manufacturing and research.
Source: Korea Times News
