Trillion Labs
Korean-centric large language models for Asian cultures.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | investor | €0.0 | round |
* | KRW5.7b | Seed | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Trillion Labs is a Seoul-based artificial intelligence startup developing large language models (LLMs) specifically tailored for the Korean language and other Asian cultures. The company was founded in April 2024 by CEO Jay (Jaemin) Shin and Jason (Juneyoung) Park. Prior to Trillion Labs, Shin was an AI research scientist at Naver, contributing to its HyperCLOVA X model, and also worked at the AI-powered education startup Riiid. Park has a background as VP of AI Research at Riiid.
The company's mission is to establish AI sovereignty for non-English speaking regions, starting with Korea, by creating foundation models that accurately understand local culture, customs, and nuances often missed by English-centric AI. Trillion Labs addresses the market need for high-performing, culturally aware AI in countries like Korea, which has strong hardware industries but fewer major software companies. The firm's business strategy involves releasing open-source models to build community and demonstrate capabilities, with plans to develop closed, proprietary systems for enterprise clients. In August 2024, Trillion Labs emerged from stealth with $4.2 million in seed funding from investors including Strong Ventures, Kakao Ventures, Bass Investment, and BAM Ventures. The company aims to launch its first open-source model by the end of 2024, with future plans to develop models for Japanese and Chinese.
Keywords: Korean LLM, large language models, AI sovereignty, foundation models, Asian languages AI, natural language processing, generative AI, Seoul AI startup, Naver, Kakao Ventures, AI research, open-source AI, enterprise AI, cultural context AI, custom AI models, AI for manufacturing, AI for content