LG shows off latest Exaone AI: 'It goes beyond text recognition'

LG's Exaone AI model enhances data analysis across industries, interpreting complex visuals for insights across sectors such as finance and health care.

LG's Exaone ecosystem introduced during “AI Talk Concert 2025” at LG Science Park in Magok, Gangseo District, western Seoul, on July 22 [LG]

It reads, it understands, it reasons — LG's latest AI model Exaone can do more than just analyze text.

When it was shown an International Energy Agency (IEA) report on the Middle East’s Strait of Hormuz and asked, “How much oil is supplied to Korea and Japan through the Strait of Hormuz?,” it answered in mere seconds.

“It can be seen that 4.2 million barrels of oil are supplied per day.”

The IEA report that Exaone was given did not include the relevant figures in the text. Instead, the supply volume was displayed as an infographic using different colors for each country. Exaone was able to accurately calculate the result by analyzing the image and connecting the colors corresponding to Korea and Japan.

“It goes beyond simple text recognition to understand tables and charts and provide insights,” said Lee Hong-lak, co-director and chief AI scientist at LG AI Research, while unveiling the company's latest developments in AI on Tuesday.

LG AI Research's Exaone is designed to be applied across industries — from analyzing professional reports to cancer diagnosis, drug development and investment return forecasts.

Lee Hong-lak, co-director of the LG AI Research and chief AI scientist, introduces LG's Exaone ecosystem during the “AI Talk Concert 2025” held at LG Science Park in Magok, Gangseo District, western Seoul, on July 22. [LG]

LG AI Research was established in 2020 under the direction of LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, who hand-picked “ABC” — AI, bio and cleantech — as future growth engines. Co-directors Lee Hong-lak and Lim Woo-hyung, who succeeded former head Bae Kyung-hoon, now the Minister of Science and ICT, introduced the model during “AI Talk Concert 2025” at LG Science Park in Magok, Gangseo District, western Seoul.

First unveiled in late 2021, Exaone is LG AI Research’s large language model. Rapid technological developments have since led to the release of Exaone 4.0. Alongside it, LG also introduced Exaone 4.0 Vision Language, which is capable of understanding complex documents, images and molecular formulas, and Exaone Data Foundry, a data generation platform.

LG AI Research plans to leverage the Exaone ecosystem to diversify LG Group’s business-to-business operations. A prime example is the “investment return forecast system” being developed in partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group. The research center said it is preparing services that help investors make decisions by analyzing not only data, but also news reports and regulatory filings. The company plans to commercialize it in the third quarter.

“Our goal is to make it accessible through platforms like Yahoo and Google Finance,” said an LG AI Research spokesperson.

Lim Woo-hyung, co-director of the LG AI Research, introduces LG's Exaone ecosystem during the “AI Talk Concert 2025” held at LG Science Park in Magok, Gangseo District, western Seoul, on July 22. [LG]

Also unveiled for the first time to the public on Tuesday was Chat Exaone, a generative AI chatbot previously used exclusively within LG. It is now available in open beta to anyone who signs up with a corporate, public or research institute email.

“Chat Exaone has acquired ISO certification to access national core technology documents,” said LG AI Research. “The license scope will be expanded for educational use so that anyone from elementary school students to university students can use it freely.”

“We will go beyond AI model development to create business value by applying it across industries and build both universality and specialization as we foster the AI ecosystem together with global partners,” said co-director Lim.

“We will continue to develop Exaone's core technology to reach the world’s highest standards and discover new growth engines,” added Lee.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY NA SANG-HYEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]