According to Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea,

The South Korean government plans to invest 4 trillion won ($2.9 billion) with the private sector to build a national artificial intelligence (AI) computing center by 2030.

This initiative reflects the rising significance of AI in national economy and security, as well as growing calls for substantial infrastructure investment amid global competition led by countries like the United States.

The Ministry of Science and ICT, along with related agencies, unveiled an AI Innovation Ecosystem Plan during a ministerial meeting on industrial competitiveness held on Wednesday.

The plan includes various strategies aimed at positioning Korea as one of the top three AI powerhouses.

These strategies focus on expanding AI computing infrastructure, developing core AI technologies, training AI talent, strengthening essential infrastructure such as power, finance, and tax systems, and establishing regional AI hubs.

Currently, Korea lags far behind global tech giants such as Meta and Microsoft, which each own about 150,000 high-performance GPUs (H100), compared to Korea’s 2,000 GPUs as of last year.

This disparity has posed significant challenges for companies and researchers in conducting AI research and development.

To address this gap, the government plans to secure GPUs under a state-led initiative before the AI computing center’s completion, later transferring these resources to the center.

The government has decided to introduce an AI-exclusive loan program as part of its 17 trillion won low-interest semiconductor loan initiative to encourage investment in AI computing infrastructure.

Furthermore, research and development funding for AI-related sectors, including semiconductors and services, will increase from 900 billion won this year to 1.1 trillion won in 2025.

This expanded budget will be allocated to advancing low-power AI-on-device semiconductor technologies and fostering autonomous AI-driven manufacturing hubs.

The total government budget for AI, which stood at 1.4 trillion won this year, is set to rise by 25 percent to 1.8 trillion won next year.

The government plans to work closely with the National Assembly during the budget review process to secure additional funding that aligns with its investment strategy.


By Goh Min-seo and Minu Kim

Copyrights Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (November 28, 2024)