AI pioneer Yann LeCun stated on Monday that the next breakthrough in artificial intelligence will come from systems capable of understanding, predicting, and acting in the physical world, rather than from larger language models. He argued that these “world models” will drive the next phase of AI. LeCun and other global AI leaders, speaking at an industrial AI panel discussion in Seoul, suggested this shift could offer South Korea an advantage in the global AI race due to its strengths in manufacturing, robotics, and engineering.