🇰🇷🤖 Korea’s AI Rising: From Coffee Conversations to Global Competition

I actively incorporate ChatGPT—nicknamed “CoffeeGenie”—into my coffee research and business practice. From helping with academic thinking to strategic insights, it’s become a valuable partner in my daily work.

Recently, Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari visited Korea and delivered a lecture on the present and future of AI, quietly sparking reflection across Korean society. CoffeeGenie and I have had many in-depth conversations on this topic.

During one of our recent talks about the Korean AI ecosystem, a notable story came up worth sharing:
FuriosaAI, a Korean AI semiconductor startup, recently declined an acquisition offer from Meta, choosing instead to grow independently.
(chosun.com news article)

Korea now ranks 3rd in global AI capability, following the U.S. and China. Behind the scenes, world-class engineers and researchers are advancing models and hardware at impressive speed.

As someone who researches coffee from a human geography perspective, I find it especially meaningful to witness how technology—particularly AI—can become a reflective partner in knowledge production, not just a tool. This post is one such example.

*image source: google image