A model introduces Lotte Group's artificial intelligence working platform Aimember in this undated handout photo. Courtesy of Lotte Corp.

Lotte Group is gearing up to improve its corporate competitiveness by embracing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and expanding its global businesses.

According to the group, Monday, its system integration unit, Lotte Innovate, rolled out Aimember 2.0 in August, an enhanced version of the group's working platform. The update introduced a revamped user interface and upgraded the platform's large language model from Meta's Llama 2 to the more advanced Llama 3.

Daehong Communications, an advertising unit of the group, also recently introduced AIMS, an AI-powered program dedicated to marketing, to all of Lotte's affiliates, allowing employees to conduct research, data analysis, ad content creation and other features on a single platform.

Lotte's retail units are also integrating AI technologies into their operations. Lotte Department Store in April introduced an AI-powered real-time translation service in 13 languages at its Jamsil branch for foreign customers, while Lotte Mart has adopted an AI-based sorting system for fruit.

Along with its AI transition, Lotte Group said it is expanding its global businesses to enable sustainable growth.

Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi / Courtesy of Lotte Corp.

In October, Lotte launched a project to improve farming conditions on cocoa bean farms to ensure sustainable sourcing as part of the group's bid to enter the African market.

More recently, the group and its Japanese unit had a strategic meeting and discussed plans to develop Pepero, a chocolate-covered pretzel stick, into a global brand with annual sales of 1 trillion won ($681.57 million).

In October of last year, Lotte GRS, a restaurant chain subsidiary, established Lotte GRS USA in Delaware, marking its second overseas base after Vietnam. The company aims to open its first Lotteria outlet in the United States next year.

Retail units are concentrating on expanding markets in Southeast Asia.

Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi achieved a cumulative revenue of 200 billion won within just five months of its opening in September last year, leading the company to consider establishing another shopping mall in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Lotte Mart Indonesia reported a revenue of 1.09 trillion won last year, maintaining a steady year-on-year growth trend.

In biopharmaceuticals, Lotte Biologics is gearing up efforts to expand its production capacity, breaking ground for its plant in Incheon in July. By 2030, the company plans to establish three mega plants in Incheon to achieve a combined 360,000 liters of capacity in manufacturing antibody drugs.