KRAFTON Strengthens AI Strategy with Appointment of Kangwook Lee as Inaugural Chief AI Officer

Deepening AI R&D to Elevate Gameplay, Empower Development Teams, and Explore Future Growth

On Feb 23, KRAFTON, Inc., a leading South Korean game company, announced the appointment of Kangwook Lee as its inaugural Chief AI Officer (CAIO), a newly created position overseeing the company’s global AI research and development as well as its long-term strategic planning. This appointment marks a new chapter in KRAFTON’s commitment to AI, aiming to leverage cutting-edge technology to deepen player experiences, empower development teams, and uphold a human-centric approach to creative design.

Kangwook Lee, who has served as Head of KRAFTON AI since 2022, brings a unique blend of deep academic expertise and extensive industry experience. His promotion is a testament to his professional capabilities, leadership, and years of contributions to AI technology development within the company. Under his guidance, KRAFTON’s AI strategy will focus on three core pillars: Elevating Gameplay, Supporting Development Teams, and Exploring Long-Term Research Opportunities.

Focusing on Three Core AI Pillars to Drive Future Growth

On the gameplay enhancement front, KRAFTON is continuously developing AI features designed to deepen immersion, responsiveness, and player interaction. A key technology in this area is the “Co-Playable Characters” (CPC) system, led by Lee in close collaboration with NVIDIA. This technology aims to create AI-driven teammates capable of real-time interaction with players, injecting greater vitality into game worlds. The CPC system will debut in KRAFTON’s new titles and is planned for integration into the PUBG franchise with the “PUBG Ally” system. This ally will feature a built-in small language model, enabling it to discuss tactics, adapt to player playstyles, perform tasks like delivering supplies and assisting with revives, and make independent decisions in various scenarios, all while supporting voice interaction. The system currently supports English, Korean, and Chinese, with initial testing expected in PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS early this year.

In terms of empowering development teams, KRAFTON is investing in a variety of AI tools designed to streamline repetitive or technical tasks, allowing developers to focus more on creative ideation, storytelling, and design. The company views AI as a supportive force that optimizes workflows and unlocks creative potential. All AI-driven analytics and development tools operate using authorized data and are managed in accordance with applicable privacy standards, ensuring compliance and transparency.

Furthermore, building on its extensive experience operating large-scale, physics-based virtual worlds, KRAFTON is actively exploring frontier fields like physical AI and robotics through its newly established entity, “Ludo Robotics” (operating in the U.S. and South Korea). This research focuses on software intelligence, utilizing simulation environments to test and validate complex systems, with a long-term, exploratory nature. Games remain KRAFTON’s core business, and all forward-looking research is grounded in the company’s foundational strengths in interactive technology.

A Leader with Academic Depth and Industry Vision

Dr. Kangwook Lee earned his Ph.D. in 2016 from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) at the University of California, Berkeley. He previously served as a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a courtesy appointment in Computer Sciences. His academic research spans machine learning and deep learning, and he has authored 57 peer-reviewed papers presented at leading global AI conferences including NeurIPS, ICML, and ICLR.

Since joining KRAFTON, Lee has not only reshaped the company’s AI R&D framework, leading research across machine learning, language models, natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and multimodal AI, but has also spearheaded major initiatives, including the CPC system developed with NVIDIA and KRAFTON’s proprietary foundation model project. He recently stepped down from his tenured academic position to fully dedicate himself to advancing KRAFTON’s AI R&D and long-term innovation strategy.

Executive Quote

“KRAFTON views AI as a tool to amplify human imagination and creativity, not replace it,” said Kangwook Lee. “Rooted in our core gaming business, we will continue to leverage AI innovation and data to explore limitless future possibilities, create lasting value for our players, and drive the company’s long-term growth.”

For more information about KRAFTON’s AI initiatives, please visit the company’s official website: https://www.krafton.ai/en/

About KRAFTON

KRAFTON, Inc. is a developer and publisher of renowned games, including PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, dedicated to delivering top-tier interactive entertainment experiences to players worldwide. The company champions a technology-driven approach to creativity, constantly exploring the boundless possibilities at the intersection of games and cutting-edge technology.