adminKrafton has appointed Kangwook Lee as its chief AI officer, placing its game AI research and development under the leadership of an executive who has headed Krafton AI since 2022. The Krafton chief AI officer appointment supports the company’s plans to develop AI technologies for gameplay, internal operations and future business opportunities.
Image credit: Krafton
Krafton chief AI officer to lead game AI research
In his role leading Krafton AI, Lee has worked on reshaping the company’s AI research framework and developing its capabilities across several technical fields. These include machine learning (ML), language models (LM), natural language processing (NLP), reinforcement learning (RL) and multimodal models.
Krafton said Lee has authored 57 papers accepted at major international AI conferences, including NeurIPS, ICML and ICLR. His research background is relevant to the company’s stated aim of building foundational AI technologies for games and other business needs.
Practical takeaway: The range of research areas named by Krafton points to a broad AI programme rather than a focus on a single tool. Players and developers will be able to assess its impact through future announcements about specific game features and products.
AI companions and real-time player interaction
One project highlighted by Krafton was developed in collaboration with NVIDIA. The work aims to create co-playable characters and enable real-time interaction between players and AI companions. These concepts could allow AI characters to participate more actively in gameplay, although Krafton’s announcement does not specify when or in which games the technology may appear.
For players, the key point is that the company describes AI as a way to support gameplay experiences, not simply as a back-end research effort. Details such as how these characters will behave, what games may use them and how players will interact with them remain important to watch for in future updates.
Krafton’s three AI strategy priorities
Krafton says the appointment is intended to strengthen its game AI research framework and its mid- to long-term business strategy, which is built on foundational technologies. The company has outlined three priorities for its AI work:
- Elevating gameplay: Applying AI to support more engaging player experiences.
- Enhancing operational efficiency: Using AI to improve how the company carries out its work.
- Securing new growth drivers: Exploring opportunities that may support future business development.
Krafton also says AI should amplify developers’ creativity. This signals that the company sees the technology as a tool for development teams, with improved gameplay and player experiences as the intended outcome.
Business context and reported earnings
The announcement comes as Krafton reports strong financial results for 2025. Revenue exceeded $2.05 billion for the first time in the company’s history, while revenue increased by 22.8%. Krafton attributed the growth to its PUBG franchise, which recorded double-digit growth. Operating profit reached $717.5 million.
These results provide context for the company’s focus on AI as one part of its longer-term strategy. They do not, on their own, indicate how much revenue or profit AI projects may generate. For now, the most concrete details are the research areas, the NVIDIA collaboration and the three priorities set out by the company.
What the appointment means for Krafton’s AI plans
Kangwook Lee’s appointment formalizes senior leadership for Krafton’s AI programme and places game-related research within a broader business plan. The company’s stated goals combine gameplay improvements with operational efficiency and new growth opportunities, while its work on co-playable characters offers one example of how research might translate into player-facing features.
As Krafton chief AI officer, Lee will lead a strategy spanning several technical disciplines. The practical measure of its progress will be whether future AI development delivers useful tools for creators and meaningful experiences for players.
