TL;DRSouth Korea’s deputy PM says AI wealth must reach the public, citing Samsung’s near-strike and Hyundai’s Atlas robot rollout as warnings.
South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said the wealth created by artificial intelligence must benefit the wider public, warning that the labour tensions that nearly shut down Samsung Electronics this week are not an isolated event but a preview of what the AI era will produce. Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Bae said that as AI generates unprecedented corporate profits, the question of how that wealth is distributed, and whether the technology worsens inequality, is now a matter of national policy.
“In the age of AI, more of these super-large companies will continue to emerge,” Bae said. “In that process, labour-management conflicts may continue to arise, and when they do, it will be important to resolve them wisely through dialogue.”
The reference was unmistakable. Samsung’s largest labour union had been preparing an 18-day strike that South Korea’s prime minister warned could cost $668 million per day. The walkout was suspended on Wednesday after government-mediated negotiations produced a tentative deal. Workers had demanded that 15% of Samsung’s operating profit be allocated to bonuses and formalised in employment contracts. Samsung had offered 10%. The union is voting on the proposed agreement from Friday to 27 May.
