"Over the past five years, we've heard a lot about 'companies that handle data well.' But now, the real journey begins. We aim to provide a platform that encompasses the entire AI development process, enabling any company, in any industry, to easily harness the power of high-performance AI."
Kim Hyun-soo, a Duke University graduate with a Ph.D. in computer science and a background in electrical and biomedical engineering, embarked on a mission five years ago. His vision was clear: to bridge the gap between AI development and industry application, making high-performance AI accessible to any company and sector. Kim's journey led to the creation of Superb AI, an end-to-end AI development platform poised to transform the landscape.
His venture into the world of AI began during his doctoral studies at Duke University. While the academic world was advancing rapidly in AI technology, industries struggled to grasp its practical applications. With a determination to expedite the adoption of AI in businesses, he founded Superb AI in 2018.
The pivotal challenge in AI development is data. At the time, data labeling was a labor-intensive process where individuals painstakingly annotated each data point. Recognizing this hurdle, Superb AI's first product, "Superb Label," was designed to streamline data management and construction.
Additionally, Superb AI developed "Superb Curate," a tool that aids in understanding data, discerning essential information from non-essential, and significantly reducing the scale of data labeling. These innovations laid the foundation for constructing high-quality datasets efficiently.
Superb AI's accomplishments include securing investments from Y Combinator, known as the "Startup School" in the United States, and earning a reputation as a leading data processing company. The company's rapid growth was further acknowledged when Forbes Korea named it one of the "Fastest-Growing Startups" this year.
However, Kim believes the real journey has just begun. They are set to officially launch 'Superb Model,' an AI development platform that allows users to create and deploy deep learning models with just a few clicks.
"With around 10 clicks and about six hours of waiting, you can create an AI model." Combining Superb Label and Curate with Superb Model, they offer an all-in-one platform covering the entire AI development cycle, from data to AI models.
The company's strength lies in its specialization. Kim emphasizes, "It's not just about creating AI models; it's about where and how you apply them." Their expertise is in computer vision, focusing on image and video analysis, making their solutions versatile across various industries. They have already built over 300 use cases in manufacturing, logistics, robotics, security, autonomous vehicles, drones, healthcare, and e-commerce, among others.
Surprisingly, Superb AI even assisted an entertainment company in using AI systems to detect instances of illegal streaming of videos featuring their artists, showcasing their adaptability. Kim himself views computer vision applications as a continuous learning process.
Now, Superb AI is poised to revolutionize AI development, making it accessible across diverse industries. Kim emphasized that their system allows anyone to easily build AI models using high-quality data, regardless of their expertise.
International expansion and business diversification are also on the horizon. Superb AI's products are available in English and Japanese, in addition to Korean. Kim, with investment from U.S. capital, believes that countries like South Korea and Japan, with traditional industries, offer more attractive opportunities in the AI business compared to the oversaturated IT sector. They plan to target the Asian market through localization efforts.
Kim also revealed the philosophy behind the company's name, Superb AI. "The term 'superb' reflects our commitment to providing 'superb AI' to every company, irrespective of their industry or expertise. Our mission is to make AI development and usage easy for everyone across all industries."
(Superb AI's end-to-end AI development platform, ‘Superb Model’, was officially launched last month.)
by Lee Ju Young
juyoung09@aitimes.com
