South Korea’s FuriosaAI Supplies AI Chips to Power LG’s EXAONE Platform

In a significant move for Asia’s AI hardware ecosystem, South Korean startup FuriosaAI has announced a new partnership to supply its high-performance AI chip, RNGD, to enterprise customers adopting LG AI Research’s new EXAONE 4.0 platform.

This collaboration comes just months after FuriosaAI reportedly declined a blockbuster $800 million acquisition offer from Meta, choosing instead to remain independent and focus on scaling its technology and business globally.

RNGD: An AI Chip Built for Big Language Models

FuriosaAI’s RNGD chip is designed specifically for running large language models (LLMs) efficiently—a crucial capability as enterprises demand faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient AI computing. RNGD stands apart by being engineered exclusively for AI, not as a general GPU or for non-AI computing tasks.

The newly launched EXAONE 4.0 by LG AI Research is Korea’s next-generation hybrid AI model, aimed at boosting performance across sectors like electronics, finance, telecom, and biotechnology. Integrating FuriosaAI’s chip will play a major role in enhancing EXAONE’s speed and efficiency.

Beyond Meta: Building Korea’s AI Ecosystem

CEO June Paik highlighted the partnership’s broader ambition—not only is EXAONE the leading sovereign AI model in South Korea, but LG AI Research is also working with global partners. "We expect there will be many demands for this EXAONE, as well as for our chip solutions in South Korea, but not only in Korea. The LG team is also partnering with and doing business with global customers," noted Paik.

LG’s choice to use FuriosaAI over more established GPU vendors, such as Nvidia, is particularly notable. According to Paik, RNGD demonstrated 2.25 times better inference performance on EXAONE models compared to GPU alternatives, while also being more cost-effective and energy-efficient.

Why Remain Independent?

FuriosaAI’s decision to turn down Meta’s lucrative offer was driven by a desire to stay mission-focused and innovate independently. Paik told TechCrunch, "We want to continue our mission…to make AI computing more sustainable." The failed acquisition reportedly fell apart over strategic disagreements rather than price.

What’s Next for FuriosaAI?

While FuriosaAI isn’t revealing plans for new funding just yet, this partnership positions the company to expand far beyond its home market. With a global team spanning Seoul and Santa Clara and only 15 employees, FuriosaAI is betting that specialized AI hardware can compete and win—especially as enterprises seek alternatives to legacy GPU suppliers.

Takeaways for Business Owners

• Specialized AI hardware is becoming a key differentiator for running next-generation AI applications efficiently.
• Partnering with regional leaders like LG AI Research can unlock access to new global markets and accelerate enterprise adoption.
• Challenger chip startups are offering more energy-efficient, cost-competitive solutions compared to established GPU giants.

References

• "We want to continue our mission, and I think it’s an exciting opportunity at the same time. I believe it’s a very impactful contribution, both personally and for the company, to make AI computing more sustainable." – Source
• "LG AI’s EXAONE is regarded as the leading sovereign AI model in South Korea. It won’t be used just within LG. It will be one of the main AI models used in the Korean AI ecosystem..." – Source
• "We had to prove that our solution not only delivers strong performance but also lowers total cost of ownership." – Source
• "We can support a wide variety of AI models efficiently. But unlike GPUs, which are still fundamentally general-purpose processors, our architecture is natively built for AI computing. We do not develop our chip for rendering or mining." – Source