LG’s K-Exaone AI Model Breaks into Global Top 10, Sparks Developer Interest

LG's K-Exaone has emerged as the only South Korean AI model to rank among the world's top 10, securing seventh place on Artificial Analysis' Intelligence Index. The model outperformed competitors in a government-led competition, topping 10 of 13 benchmark tests with an average score of 72. China dominates the list with six models, while the US claims three spots.

The open-weight release on Hugging Face propelled K-Exaone to second place on the platform's global trend chart, signaling strong international interest. LG will offer free API access through January 28, enabling developers and firms to experiment with the technology during its initial rollout phase.

Epoch AI recognized K-Exaone as a notable model, marking LG AI Research's fifth inclusion on the list—the most for any Korean company. "We developed the first-phase K-Exaone using about half our available data," said Lee Jin-sik of LG AI Research, highlighting the team's strategic resource allocation.