LG Uplus Partners with FuriosaAI to Develop Semiconductor-Powered Sovereign AI Appliance

LG Uplus has entered into a partnership with AI semiconductor firm FuriosaAI to jointly develop an enterprise-focused “sovereign AI appliance” designed for secure, on-premises deployment.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding for AI infrastructure cooperation during Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona. The agreement was attended by LG Uplus Chief Technology Officer Lee Sang-yeop and FuriosaAI Chief Executive Baek Jun-ho.

The planned AI appliance will allow organisations to run artificial intelligence workloads entirely within their own infrastructure, ensuring that sensitive data remains on-site rather than being transmitted to external cloud services. The system is intended to operate as a ready-to-deploy solution that can be activated with basic network and power connections, removing the need for complex AI server installations.

The platform will combine LG Uplus’s enterprise AI platform with EXAONE 4.0, developed by LG AI Research, together with FuriosaAI’s energy-efficient neural processing technology. The company’s second-generation processor, the Renegade NPU, is expected to enhance inference performance and enable fast search and response capabilities even in closed or highly secure networks.

According to the companies, the system is designed to help organisations deploy AI services quickly without building dedicated infrastructure. It is expected to support enterprise functions such as internal document search, summarisation and workflow automation.

The partners believe the technology could accelerate AI adoption in sectors where cloud connectivity is restricted or tightly regulated, including public services, defence, healthcare, finance, manufacturing and research institutions.

Beyond the appliance itself, the two companies plan to expand their collaboration into additional areas such as AI data centre infrastructure and NPU-based services to support wider enterprise AI deployment.