Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) stated on the 19th that the investment contract with an American artificial intelligence (AI) startup is unrelated to the KF-21 and that all procedures were conducted legally, in response to reports indicating that there may be issues with the export of the next-generation fighter jet KF-21.
On the 16th, a media outlet reported that Shield AI has typically received a 10% royalty and that if Shield AI's software is installed on a fighter jet worth 1 billion won, a royalty of 100 million won must be paid. The article included opinions from KAI's working-level team suggesting that selling more KF-21s would lead to losses and that KAI could become embroiled in intellectual property lawsuits in the future.
In response, KAI noted, “We plan to install the AI pilot under development on a multipurpose unmanned vehicle rather than the KF-21,” adding, “We will consider comparing the development software from Shield AI with our own AI pilot.” KAI also emphasized that there are no clauses related to a 10% royalty in the contract with Shield AI and that the matter has been reviewed in discussions with various AI companies.
The report pointed out the expertise of a domestic company representing Shield AI, to which KAI clarified, “This company holds exclusive domestic rights for Shield AI.” Regarding claims that there were internal objections, KAI stated, “Those were reviewed in the risk assessment process commonly conducted during investment decisions,” and reported, “The matter was decided after collecting all opinions and following official procedures.”