K-AI Challenge

"Our ultimate goal is to create models that AI researchers around the world are eager to use, thereby elevating Korea's status in AI and revitalizing the domestic AI ecosystem." Hongrak Lee and Woohyung Lim, co-chief researchers at LG AI Research Institute, introduced the institute's vision during an interview with Asia Economy at the D&O Gangseo Building on September 4. They emphasized, "Compared to the national-level GPU support provided to Chinese companies, our infrastructure is absolutely insufficient. To overcome this, it is crucial to build high-quality field data and industry-specialized models to secure differentiated competitiveness." They explained that 'Exaone', the large language model (LLM) developed in-house, has industry-specific strengths because, from the outset, the focus was on developing AI technologies that companies could actually use and adopt. The co-chief researchers expressed confidence that expanding use cases within LG affiliates and accumulating know-how t

"In the past, it was unimaginable for our country to export nuclear power plants or defense industry products, but now it has become possible. We have a business strategy to build and export AI ecosystems tailored to each country." During an interview held on August 11 at Green Factory in Jeongja-dong, Gyeonggi Province, Sung Nakho, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyperscale AI at Naver Cloud, stated, "Now is the golden time as the US and China are fiercely competing for dominance in AI." The Naver Cloud consortium is participating in the Ministry of Science and ICT's 'Independent AI Foundation Model' project, which aims to select a national AI representative. Including Naver Cloud, a total of five elite teams are evaluated every six months, and by 2027, only two teams will remain in this survival competition. Naver Cloud, which has long advocated for 'Sovereign AI' utilizing its own technology, data, and talent, is fully committed to this competition to select the national AI cha

Upstage, which was selected as one of five teams for the government's independent artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model development project, is set to develop a new AI model that will be scaled up to a final size of 300 billion parameters. This new model will be fundamentally different from Upstage's previous 'Solar' large language model (LLM), with the goal of achieving over 99% of the performance of the world's top models. On August 13, in an interview with Asia Economy at the company's office in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Upstage Vice President Kwon Sunil emphasized, "We are not simply aiming to create an AI that only works well in Korean, like a Galapagos-style isolated system. The true meaning of 'sovereign AI' is to develop a global frontier-level model and secure technological leadership." This means they intend to build a model with global competitiveness, going beyond merely improving Korean language fluency or spelling accuracy. This philosophy is directly refle

"When you actually start building an AI model, you feel tremendous pressure. Since it requires an enormous amount of GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), it can cost as much as 100 million won per day." Taeyoon Kim, Executive Vice President and head of the Foundation Model at SK Telecom, who leads the SK Telecom consortium selected as an elite team for the Ministry of Science and ICT’s "Independent AI Foundation Model Project," shared these remarks in an interview with Asia Economy at Ferrum Tower in Euljiro, Seoul, on August 6. He stated, "It is realistically difficult to surpass the world’s top level in a short period of time," but also expressed his determination to take on the challenge, saying, "As an engineer, this is an opportunity." On August 4, the Ministry of Science and ICT selected only five consortia, including SKT, out of a total of 15. These teams will enter an intense competition, undergoing performance evaluations every six months, with only one or two teams ultimately su

"By leveraging technology that can instantly generate 3D models from images, we aim to reduce the cost of digital twins and accelerate the AI transformation of businesses, ultimately enhancing national competitiveness through improved industrial competitiveness." On August 7 at NCSoft headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Kensoo Kim, Head of NC AI Agentic AI Lab, shared his determination in an interview with Asia Economy regarding the goals of the 'National AI' project: "We are committed to building a true sovereign AI so that domestic industries, where the AI transformation (AX) rate is still low, do not face difficulties in efficiency and productivity." On August 4, NC's AI subsidiary, NC AI, was selected as one of the five elite teams for the government's 'Proprietary AI Foundation Model (Sovereign AI)' project, alongside Naver Cloud, Upstage, SK Telecom, and LG Management Development Institute AI Research Institute. While there was some skepticism about a game company deve