NVIDIA · OpenAI · Google, the AI ecosystem dominance battle fully underway... Intense competition from semiconductors to IPOs

AI technology is rapidly reshaping the overall landscape of the digital economy, leading major related industries to launch new strategies. The technological competition among leading representatives such as NVIDIA(NVDA), OpenAI, and Google(GOOGL) is expected to continue into next year. Notably, NVIDIA is working to defend its dominance in the AI semiconductor field, for example, advancing a technology licensing agreement valued at $20 billion (approximately 28.8 trillion KRW) with AI inference chip startup Groq. Google’s release of the Gemini model and OpenAI’s attempt at advertising business both indicate that competition in this market has gone beyond simple model performance comparisons and is evolving into a strategic game involving the overall structure of enterprises.

The IPO(IPO) market is also beginning to activate. AI chip manufacturer Cerebras Systems and vehicle management software company Motive, supported by Google’s parent company Alphabet(GOOGL), have announced IPO plans aiming to go public in early 2026. This signifies that the AI industry is once again experiencing a structural opportunity capable of attracting large-scale funding. This trend also hints that, after a sluggish investment period in the second half of the year, the market is entering a recovery phase.

ByteDance(ByteDance) in China announced a massive plan to invest $23 billion (approximately 33.1 trillion KRW) into AI infrastructure next year. Despite increasing regulatory risks in the US and Europe, global platform companies have not stopped investing in building an AI-centered ecosystem. Meanwhile, ServiceNow(NOW) acquired security startup Armis for $7.75 billion (approximately 11.16 trillion KRW), officially initiating the integration of AI and cybersecurity.

The era of Search Engine Optimization(SEO) is shifting toward AI Optimization(AIEO). As AI redefines the concept of search, brands and companies are seeking new strategies regarding how their content will be displayed on AI-driven platforms. Traditional keyword-centric SEO faces bottlenecks and needs to adapt to conversational AI and multimodal search environments.

On the other hand, the expansion of the AI ecosystem is accompanied by increasing cybersecurity threats. Recently, the well-known open-source AI library “LangChain” was found to have serious security vulnerabilities, and hackers who reported flaws in AI chat systems are involved in lawsuits. This indicates that the expansion of AI services faces two major challenges: technical stability and ethical transparency.

Investments in emerging AI startups are also becoming more active. Led by Marissa Mayer, Dazzle raised $8 million (approximately 115 billion KRW), while Lemon Slice, a startup developing real-time interactive AI virtual avatars, received $10.5 million (approximately 151 billion KRW) in seed funding.

Such comprehensive diffusion of AI influence continues even during the year-end holidays. As technological-driven industry restructuring accelerates, governments and enterprises worldwide have already begun to formulate strategies for the coming year. The development of AI technology has now surpassed mere technical progress and stands at a turning point where the entire ecosystem of industry, policy, and investment is being rewritten.