Polaris Office Secures 9.6 Billion Won Government R&D Project... Accelerates 'On-Device AI' Development

Polaris Office is set to expand its on-device AI business after securing a government-led artificial intelligence (AI) national project. The company announced on May 21 that, together with HandysSoft, it has been selected as the lead organization for a government research and development (R&D) project worth approximately 9.6 billion won.

This project is part of the 'Development of Technologies to Overcome the Limits of Lightweight and Low-Power AI,' supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation. The project name is 'Development of Ultra-Efficient Lightweight AI Model Technology Specialized for Document Collaboration to Ensure Digital Sovereignty', with a total budget of around 9.6 billion won. The research period will last approximately three years and nine months, until 2029.

The two companies plan to develop a next-generation AI office and groupware integrated platform based on super-lightweight language models (sLLM) and on-device AI technology, enabling document processing and work automation without the need for external network connections. The core strategy is to combine Polaris Office's document solution expertise with HandysSoft's experience in building groupware for the public and enterprise sectors.

In particular, this project focuses on developing an AI solution that can operate reliably even in network-segregated environments. Currently, public institutions and financial sectors in Korea face significant constraints in adopting generative AI based on external networks due to security regulations. In response, Polaris Office plans to further develop its on-device AI technology, which operates independently on internal devices, to enhance both security and cost efficiency.

The company plans to target commercialization primarily at the business-to-business (B2B) market, focusing on public institutions and financial firms. In addition, collaboration with HandysSoft, which has built a public sector sales network for about 30 years, is expected to accelerate market entry. The company explained that by linking its existing customer base solutions with new R&D technologies, it can achieve rapid revenue generation without the need for additional sales network expansion.

A representative from Polaris Office stated, "Through this government project, we have secured the technological competitiveness and entry foundation required in the global on-device AI market," adding, "We plan to focus on integrating our developed technologies with commercial software to monetize our vast user base and enhance corporate value."

Meanwhile, Polaris Group is actively pursuing its 'Polaris 2.0' strategy, which combines software and hardware. Recently, the company has also expanded its business in industrial site-specialized robot solutions by collaborating with global humanoid robotics company Ubtech, among others. The company expects that the lightweight on-device AI technology secured through this project will create synergies with intelligent control technologies for industrial robots in the future.

This successful bid for the national project is significant in that Polaris Office has secured core technological competitiveness for expanding the physical AI ecosystem, as well as taking the lead in the security-specialized AI market for public and financial sectors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.