AI chip money is now showing up in South Korea’s matchmaking market, according to MIT Technology Review, which reports that employees at SK Hynix and Samsung have become unusually desirable prospects after large profit-sharing deals tied to the AI hardware boom.
The publication described Baek, a 35-year-old manager at SK Hynix, whose mother enrolled him with a matchmaking company a year ago. That parental move is familiar enough in South Korea. What changed, Baek told MIT Technology Review, is that he and colleagues have lately had more success finding dates.
The obvious suspect is cash. MIT Technology Review reported that SK Hynix agreed to distribute 10% of operating profit to employees, amounting to an extra $476,000 per worker this year. Samsung employees received a comparable arrangement in May, according to the report.
The mechanism is not romantic, unless payroll spreadsheets do it for you. AI demand has pushed semiconductor profits up, and those profits have flowed into worker bonuses. Matchmakers and families appear to be treating chip workers as higher-status partners because the sector now signals both income and job prestige. MIT Technology Review said the effect applies to bachelors and bachelorettes, not just men.
Perfusion research targets whole-eye transplants
MIT Technology Review also reported on work that could address a stubborn problem in transplant medicine: human eyes begin deteriorating once removed from the body, and whole-eye transplantation has not restored sight. The publication noted that when surgeons attempted a whole-eye transplant a few years ago, the transplanted eye did not see.
Researchers now think a device using perfusion may help. Perfusion keeps fluid moving through tissue after removal, which can supply oxygen and nutrients and clear waste. According to MIT Technology Review, eyes treated this way appear to degrade more slowly and retain the ability to send electrical signals, a basic requirement if any future transplanted eye is going to do more than sit there cosmetically.
The device has not made whole-eye transplants a routine clinical option. MIT Technology Review framed the work as a possible path toward viability, not a finished cure for blindness.
Other tech developments flagged Monday
- Reuters reported that the UN secretary-general warned AI development is moving faster than global rules and called for internationally aligned guardrails.
- The Guardian reported that an Israeli battlefield system identified 850,000 targets in Gaza and Lebanon. Elbit Systems said the system detected targets in real time.
- The New York Times reported that European Union transparency rules have exposed how Microsoft shifts profits to reduce tax bills.
- New Scientist reported that a spacecraft launched a mission to raise NASA’s Swift observatory into a higher orbit. The BBC reported that the effort involves three robotic arms.
- The South China Morning Post reported that ByteDance and Alibaba disabled humanlike AI agent features as China prepares new rules.
- The Verge reported that Anthropic says it wants to develop treatments for neglected diseases and has introduced a science-focused AI product.
- Rest of World reported on India’s experiments with small, offline, multilingual, open-source AI systems.
- The Wall Street Journal reported that major tech companies are now publicly sounding more optimistic about AI’s effect on jobs after negative public opinion.
- Gizmodo reported that Midjourney accused Disney, Universal and Warner of using AI covertly in an escalating legal fight.
- Ars Technica reported that scientists found a carbon-rich Martian rock and cannot yet determine whether biology was involved.
This story draws on original reporting from MIT Technology Review.
