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AI’s first labour showdown is between the haves and have-mores
The Samsung union’s call for a strike has made South Korea ground zero for a broader debate about who gets to claim the spoils of the AI boom.
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Members of the Samsung Electronics labour union demanding the removal of a cap on performance bonuses at a rally outside the company's foundry and semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.
PHOTO : AFP
Catherine Thorbecke
There’s a joke going around the Korean internet that the “ultimate blind date outfit” is a shabby SK Hynix jacket. The meme pokes fun at the way the artificial intelligence boom has seemingly turned some of the nation’s semiconductor engineers into multimillionaires overnight.
It’s against this backdrop that the first major labour showdown of the AI era is being played out. Workers at rival Samsung Electronics’ chip division are threatening to strike as soon as May 21, demanding a larger share of the windfall they helped create. The company reported a staggering 755 per cent jump in profit during the March quarter.
