Krafton appoints Kangwook Lee as chief AI officer

SOUTH KOREA: Krafton is sharpening its artificial intelligence edge and widening its ambitions beyond the console.

The South Korean gaming giant has appointed Kangwook Lee as chief AI officer, a newly created role designed to accelerate artificial intelligence research and hardwire it into the company’s long-term innovation roadmap. Lee, who has led Krafton AI since 2022, will now oversee the entire AI research and development strategy as the company doubles down on game intelligence and pushes into robotics.

The move signals a clear intent: AI will sit at the centre of Krafton’s next chapter.

Lee earned a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2016 and was a tenured associate professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before joining Krafton full-time. His research spans deep learning, machine learning, natural language processing, reinforcement learning and multimodal AI systems. He has authored 57 papers presented at leading AI conferences including NeurIPS, ICML and ICLR.

In 2025, Lee led a high-profile collaboration with NVIDIA to introduce Co-Playable Characters, or CPCs, AI-driven characters that interact with players in real time to deepen immersion. He also spearheaded the development of Krafton’s proprietary AI foundation model project. Lee recently resigned from his tenured academic position to focus entirely on advancing the company’s AI research and long-term strategy.

Under Lee’s watch, Krafton’s AI blueprint will rest on three pillars.

First, elevating gameplay. The company plans to deploy AI features such as CPCs to enhance immersion and interactive storytelling, while building a common AI technology foundation across studios. Creative control over implementation, however, will remain with individual teams.

Second, enhancing operational efficiency. AI tools will be integrated into development pipelines to streamline workflows, reduce repetitive tasks and support data-driven decision-making, freeing creative teams to concentrate on design and narrative craft.

Third, securing new growth drivers. Krafton is expanding into physical AI and robotics through a newly established entity, Ludo Robotics. The venture will operate with a US-based parent and a Korean subsidiary led by Lee. Krafton believes its experience managing vast virtual environments and player interaction data offers a competitive edge in robotics simulation and software for robotic intelligence.

Lee framed AI as an amplifier of human creativity rather than a replacement for it. “KRAFTON uses AI as a tool to amplify human imagination and creativity, not replace it,” he said, reiterating the company’s player-first philosophy.

Headquartered in South Korea, Krafton is best known for global franchises including PUBG: Battlegrounds and, in India, Battlegrounds Mobile India. The company has invested over $200 million in Indian startups since 2021, backing the wider gaming and technology ecosystem.

Krafton recently posted record 2025 revenue, crossing KRW 3 trillion on the back of PUBG’s growth. With Lee now steering AI across both code and circuitry, the company is making a bigger wager still: that the future of play will be intelligent, immersive and, increasingly, physical.