Korean companies face rising token costs as they adopt AI models from abroad

As big Korean companies like Samsung and SK Group sign enterprise deals to bring in US AI models such as Anthropic's Claude, Google Gemini, and OpenAI's ChatGPT, they're facing a steep rise in token costs. Business tasks are complex and use way more tokens than personal use. Claude, known for coding skills, is especially popular among Korean developers.

To keep costs down, Samsung has set strict token limits for employees. Workers have to show AI boosts their productivity to get more tokens, which has caused some frustration. According to Anthropic's Economic Index, Korea ranks 14th globally in Claude usage, with per-person usage over 3.5 times the global average.

Companies like Naver and Nexon have fully adopted Claude for software and game development. Samsung SDS and LG CNS are also rolling out AI tools. But the semiconductor industry remains cautious—Samsung's chip unit mostly bans external models, and SK Hynix relies on its own AI.