On June 17, 2026, Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI assistant, opened an office in Seoul. It’s the company’s third location in Asia-Pacific, after Tokyo and Bengaluru. That news might sound distant to a small business in Trois-Rivières or Quebec City, but it says something very concrete about the place Claude is taking in the workplace.

The most telling part isn’t the office itself, it’s what came with it. The same day, Anthropic confirmed that giants like Samsung, LG, and Hanwha are rolling out Claude to thousands of their employees. In other words, the tool isn’t just being tested anymore. It’s becoming part of daily operations at some of the world’s largest organizations, used for writing code, drafting documents, and managing knowledge.

1. What Anthropic announced in Seoul

The Seoul office launch came with several agreements spanning both the public and private sectors. According to Anthropic, the new office is led by KiYoung Choi, who brings roughly three decades of experience leading tech companies in Korea. Korea, for its part, is already among the top countries for Claude.ai usage, mostly for technical and creative work.

Here are the main points from the announcement:

• A government agreement: Anthropic signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT to advance AI safety.
• Research partnerships: up to 60 researchers affiliated with a university consortium, including KAIST, Korea University, Yonsei, and POSTECH, will get access to Claude for work on alignment, model evaluation, and robustness.
• Expanded regional presence: Seoul becomes Anthropic’s third office in Asia-Pacific, a sign the company is building out its footprint beyond the United States.

2. Samsung, LG, and Hanwha roll out Claude at scale

The most interesting part of the announcement is what’s actually happening inside these companies. These aren’t quiet pilot projects anymore, they’re full rollouts reaching thousands of people. According to Anthropic, three cases stand out:

• LG CNS is rolling out Claude to thousands of employees for software development, with plans to extend it across the entire LG group.
• Samsung SDS is putting Claude in the hands of Samsung Electronics employees, notably through Claude Cowork and Claude Code, for everyday knowledge work and software development.
• Hanwha Solutions is making Claude available to employees internationally through AWS Bedrock, in order to meet strict data residency and security requirements.

That last detail is worth pausing on. Hanwha isn’t just flipping a switch, it’s choosing an approach that keeps data within a specific region and under tight security controls. That’s exactly the kind of thinking a small business should apply before opening AI up to its team. Where does the data go, who has access to it, and under what rules? At OKTO Solutions, that’s the kind of groundwork we build into our managed IT services.

3. Why this matters for a Quebec small business

When organizations the size of Samsung and LG decide to put Claude in the hands of thousands of employees, the message is simple: conversational AI isn’t a novelty anymore, it’s become a standard productivity tool. And what starts in large enterprises almost always trickles down to small businesses, usually faster than expected.

In practical terms, a small business can take a few lessons from these rollouts:

• Adoption is spreading, whether it’s managed or not. Your employees may already be using an AI assistant to draft emails or summarize documents. Better to have clear guidelines than to let it happen unsupervised.
• Data is the real issue. Hanwha’s choice to run on infrastructure with data residency guarantees is a reminder that a small business needs to know where its sensitive information travels, especially with Quebec’s Law 25 in play.
• The time savings are real. Coding, writing, knowledge management: these are tasks every business handles, no matter its size.

The right approach isn’t to ban AI or adopt it blindly, it’s to set clear rules: which tools are allowed, what data should never be entered into them, and who reviews the output. If you’d rather not spend your evenings building that policy yourself, reach out through our contact page.

4. The backdrop: export controls in the background

Worth noting is some context reported by several outlets, including UPI and the Korea Times. The Seoul office opened while US export restrictions are limiting Korea’s access to Anthropic’s most advanced models. Just days earlier, the company had to suspend access to its top-tier models following a government directive.

Anthropic is pressing ahead with its expansion in Korea while working around these limits. For a small business, the lesson here isn’t really about geopolitics, it’s practical: access to an AI tool can change overnight based on decisions entirely outside your control. That’s a good reason to never rely on a single vendor for a critical process, and to always keep a backup plan.

Frequently asked questions

What is Claude, Anthropic’s AI?

Claude is an AI assistant built by Anthropic. It’s used to write, summarize, analyze documents, write code, and answer questions, a bit like a digital coworker you reach by text.

Why did Anthropic open an office in Seoul?

To get closer to its Korean partners and customers. Korea is one of the countries where Claude sees the heaviest use, and major companies like Samsung and LG are rolling it out to thousands of employees there.

Can a small business use Claude safely?

Yes, as long as usage is managed: define what data can be entered, choose the right plan, and train employees. An IT partner can help you put those guardrails in place, especially to stay compliant with Law 25.

Adopting AI without losing control of your data

Claude’s arrival inside some of the world’s largest companies confirms a broader trend: AI is becoming just another workplace tool. The real question for a small business isn’t whether it will use AI, but how to manage it well enough to benefit without exposing sensitive data. Our team can help you choose the right tools and set clear rules, the same way we do in our managed IT services. To talk it over with a real person, reach out through our contact page.