PUBG publisher Krafton creates new Chief AI Officer executive role as it continues its ‘AI First’ strategy
Krafton’s head of AI has been promoted to the new role and to “further enhance its game AI R&D framework”
Krafton, the South Korean publisher behind such titles as PUBG, Subnautica and Hi-Fi Rush, has created a new executive role designed to further its ‘AI First’ strategy.
Kangwook Lee, who has served as Krafton‘s head of AI since 2022, has been promoted to chief AI officer (CAIO), a new executive role designed to “oversee the company’s AI R&D and mid-to-long-term innovation strategy”.
According to the publisher, Lee’s new role will involve overseeing Krafton’s AI strategy as it focuses on three main pillars – “elevating gameplay”, “enhancing operational efficiency” and “securing new growth drivers”.
In terms of the first pillar, the publisher says: “Krafton will elevate gameplay by deploying AI features that are meaningfully applicable to games, such as CPCs designed to improve the quality of AI-driven interactive content. Krafton will continue to establish a common foundation by strengthening core AI technologies that can directly enhance immersion and player experience.”
For the second pillar, “Krafton will help streamline workflows and reduce repetitive technical tasks, enabling teams to focus on creative planning, problem-solving and craft”.
Finally, for the third pillar, “building on its foundational AI capabilities and strengths as a game company, Krafton will continue to conduct research in physical AI and robotics”.
In a statement speaking as his new role of CAIO, Lee said: “Krafton uses AI as a tool to amplify human imagination and creativity, not replace it. Rooted in our core gaming business, Krafton will continue to explore future possibilities backed by AI innovation and data for long-term growth and player value.”
Krafton announced last October that the company was reorganising its development operations to “place AI at the centre” of problem-solving, pledging to invest approximately KRW 100 billion (about $69m USD) to build a GPU cluster to “support multi-stage tasks requiring sophisticated reasoning and iterative planning”, and serve as “the foundation for accelerating the implementation of agentic AI”.
It also pledged to invest another KRW 30 billion (about $20m USD) annually, starting this year, to “actively support its employees in directly utilizing and applying various AI tools to their work”. The company will also restructure its HR system and organizational operations around AI, it said.
