42Maru LLM42 Earns Korea's First 'AI-MASTER' Reliability Certification

## 42Maru, Public-Private 'AI Reliability Double Crown'... Set a National First Record! Generative AI startup 42Maru has achieved another milestone by acquiring the nation's first private AI reliability certification, 'AI-MASTER,' with its hyperscale language model 'LLM42'. Following its achievement last year of becoming the first South Korean hyperscale language model to pass the Korea Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA)'s 'AI Reliability Certification (CAT)', it has now achieved an unprecedented feat by becoming the one and only company to secure both major public and private reliability certifications as the first recipient of each. This is evaluated as a monumental event, proving that 42Maru has not only demonstrated its technological prowess but has also proactively met the social responsibility and ethical standards of AI. **Domestic AI Reliability, Setting Private Standards: The Meaning of AI-MASTER Certification** The newly introduced AI-MASTER is the nation's first private AI reliability certification system, jointly developed by the Korea Artificial Intelligence Industry Association (AIIA) in partnership with SureSoftTech and SelectStar. Based on the EU's 7 principles of 'Trustworthy AI' and 9 types of ISO/IEC international standards, it conducts document, test, and data-based quantitative evaluations across a total of 63 items, including personal information protection, bias response, and technical stability. It is particularly noteworthy for innovatively ensuring the objectivity and consistency of evaluation by utilizing automated tools for over 60% of all items. This is regarded as setting a new standard for the domestic AI industry, moving beyond simple guideline presentation to an actionable certification system, and is expected to play a pivotal role in ensuring the reliability of domestic AI technology. **LLM42, The Future of Industrial AI Combining Reliability and Practicality** 42Maru's LLM42 received high scores in this AI-MASTER evaluation, demonstrating excellent capabilities in key reliability items such as personal information protection, bias response, and technical stability. LLM42, a lightweight model optimized for the Korean language environment, boasts strengths including a low-cost structure, high security, and applicability in industrial settings. In particular, by combining RAG42, a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, with MRC42, an AI reading comprehension technology, it has substantially mitigated the persistent problem of hallucination in generative AI. Furthermore, by supporting an enterprise private mode, it can securely process sensitive data, thereby offering essential trust-based solutions to corporate clients. This is an innovative alternative that allows enterprises to safely utilize hyperscale AI without concerns about internal data leakage, and significantly reduce solution development, training, and serving costs. **The 'No. 1 AI Reliability' Company Encompassing Both Public and Private Sectors** Previously, in November last year, LLM42 proactively demonstrated its reliability in the public sector by becoming the first South Korean hyperscale language model to acquire the 'AI Reliability Certification (CAT)' operated by the Ministry of Science and ICT and TTA. At that time, it opened new horizons in the domestic LLM market by passing precise tests and verifications on 11 detailed reliability items, including accountability, transparency, safety, and respect for diversity. With the acquisition of this AI-MASTER certification, 42Maru has become the only company in South Korea to hold both major public (TTA) and private (AIIA) AI reliability certifications as the 'first' recipient of each. This signifies that 42Maru's technological prowess has been recognized with the highest level of trust from both national institutions and the private industry, and it will serve as an important example for enhancing the overall reliability of the domestic AI industry. As AI-MASTER is set to expand in the future to link with national AI policies such as government R&D projects, public procurement, and high-impact AI designation, and to become a globally recognized mutual certification system, the value and potential applications of LLM42 are expected to increase further. Kim Dong-hwan, CEO of 42Maru, emphasized, "AI technology can only achieve sustainable growth by meeting social responsibilities and ethical standards, going beyond mere accuracy," and expressed his ambition, "As LLM42 has officially been recognized for its reliability in both public and private sectors, we will continue to do our best to disseminate safe and trustworthy AI infrastructure across all industries." 42Maru is anticipated to lead the era of AI reliability in the domestic AI industry and contribute to the widespread adoption of safe and responsible AI technology.