Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Foster On-Device AI Startups... Partners with LG Electronics and Others

'On-Device AI Supergap Challenge' Launch Ceremony Held
Outstanding Technologies Planned to Be Installed in LG Electronics Laptops

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is partnering with large corporations such as LG Electronics to foster On-Device artificial intelligence (AI) startups.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Photo by Jin-hyung Kang aymsdream@

On the morning of the 21st, the Ministry announced that it held the launch ceremony for the "On-Device AI Super Gap Challenge" at the Chosun Palace Hotel in Seoul.

On-Device AI is a technology that uses semiconductors to perform AI functions directly on smart devices without going through the cloud. Recently, competition among companies in the global market has intensified, and its importance has increased, creating a need for policy support for related startups.

This challenge was established to help promising startups in the AI field grow and accelerate their global expansion through collaboration with global corporations such as LG Electronics, Microsoft, and Intel.

At the launch ceremony, Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups emphasized, "AI is closely related to new industries such as system semiconductors, and its influence and importance in the global market are expected to expand further. We will prepare and focus support on various measures like this challenge so that Korea's excellent AI startups can gain competitiveness and secure leadership in the global market."

The Ministry plans to form an "AI Startup-Large Corporation Win-Win Council," involving the Generative AI Startup Association and global corporations such as LG Electronics, to discuss collaboration and mutual growth strategies.

Meanwhile, the Ministry announced the challenge on the same day, calling for startups within 10 years of establishment that possess capabilities in generative and on-device AI development. The application fields include On-Device AI PC, On-Device AI applications, and free proposal categories. Startups wishing to participate can apply by selecting one category.

Startups selected through expert evaluation will receive technical support such as proof of concept (PoC) from global companies including LG Electronics (devices), Intel (chipsets), and Microsoft (software), as well as collaboration funding from the Ministry.

The On-Device AI technology of startups that achieve excellent results through collaboration is planned to be incorporated into laptops to be released by LG Electronics in the future.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.