Samsung Electronics' Device Experience (DX) Division Chief Technology Officer Cheun Kyung-whoon speaks during the online Samsung Developer Conference Korea 2024, Thursday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics unveiled Samsung Gauss2 on Thursday, an upgraded version of its own generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Gauss2 will improve the flow efficiency of developers, engineers and other employees in the company's intranet environment instead of ChatGPT or other AI agents, the company said during the online Samsung Developer Conference Korea 2024.

"Samsung Electronics is focusing on securing cutting-edge software technologies, such as AI and data analytics, to shape new lifestyles and enhance the quality of life for its customers," its Device Experience (DX) Division Chief Technology Officer Cheun Kyung-whoon said.

"We will introduce Samsung Gauss2, our own generative AI, and showcase its improved performance, efficiency and ways of use. Through this, we will be able to provide distinguished customer experience by enhancing productivity and applying it to products in phases."

Gauss2 is an upgraded version of Gauss1, introduced last year. Compared to the previous version, Gauss2 is a multimodal model capable of processing various types of data simultaneously, including language, code and images.

Samsung said Gauss2 is available in three models tailored to service applications and performance needs — Compact, Balanced and Supreme — the top two models of which outperform leading open-source generative AI models in key metrics, including multilingual response generation and coding tasks.

The company said Gauss2 will empower the DX Division's coding assistant program, code. i, which is now used by more than 60 percent of the division's software developers.

Samsung Gauss2 / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung has been striving to come up with its own AI solution to meet employees' growing demands for using AI agents in their work processes. Aside from Gauss series, the company's chip-making Device Solutions Division is using own AI agent, named DS Assistant, while prohibiting employees' use of ChatGPT or other popular AI agents due to data security concerns.

In March last year, the DS Division allowed its employees to use ChatGPT for their work, but identified multiple data leaks, as employees uploaded malfunctioning program codes for debugging and shared a confidential meeting's minutes with the AI.

Anything entered into ChatGPT is transmitted to external servers and cannot be retrieved. Since there are chances of such content being used for the AI's training, this creates risks for an indefinite number of users accessing confidential information.

Though ChatGPT offers several privacy features, such as Incognito Mode and Temporary Chat, many Korean businesses are limiting employees' use due to concerns about potential data leaks.

Following the incidents, a number of Samsung's business divisions began to ban employees' use of ChatGPT for work purposes while releasing Gauss1 last November.

However, it remains uncertain whether Samsung employees are satisfied with the company's own AI solutions. On Oct. 18, Samsung Group United Union (SGUU), an umbrella union of four Samsung Group labor unions, wrote to Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and urged that Samsung's companies should utilize "the world's best tools" if it aims to be a leading global company.

"You can cope with security risks with ChatGPT Enterprise," the SGUU said. "Amid the growing importance of shorter work hours and work-life balance, we should not waste our eight hours every day."