Top 20 Teams Including Masspresso and Semware Selected in AI Grand Challenge Stage 1

Announcement of Stage 1 Results of the 5th Competition
Follow-up Research Funding Support Totaling 4.75 Billion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the results of the first stage of the 5th ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) Grand Challenge’ on the evening of the 30th through its homepage.

The AI Grand Challenge competition is a challenge and competitive research and development (R&D) contest where participants voluntarily conduct preliminary research to solve the given problems and compete based on their skills. The current 5th competition, held under the theme "Solve the given math problems using artificial intelligence technology," aims to secure composite intelligence technology based on problem understanding and mathematical thinking, and is conducted over three stages in two years until 2022.

The first stage of the competition presented a total of 1,047 math problems across 9 types and 7 difficulty levels under the theme "Present the solution process and answer for descriptive math problems composed of text!" A total of 75 teams and 343 participants submitted applications, and the competition was held online over 53 hours from the 16th to the 18th. As a result, a total of 20 teams were selected, including 8 teams from industry, 9 teams from academia, 1 team from research institutes, and 2 individual teams.

In the industry sector, companies such as Mathpresso, the service provider of the math problem-solving solution 'QANDA,' numerical analysis solution company Semware, as well as Nua, Algorima, Everdoubling, ESTsoft, Intflow, and Kotech System were named.

In academia and research, teams from Korea University, Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, Chuncheon National University of Education, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute were selected. Research teams from various fields including AI, computer science, software, mathematics, electrical and electronic engineering, and materials science attracted attention.

Selected teams will receive follow-up research funding of up to 237.5 million KRW per team for solving more advanced problems, totaling 4.75 billion KRW. The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to provide opportunities for the selected teams to share and discuss problem-solving methods through technical workshops for participating teams.

The second stage of the 5th competition, along with the existing 3rd and 4th competitions (3 stages), will be announced in August this year and held in November. Participation opportunities will be open at every stage, including the second stage, allowing new participants to challenge themselves.

Song Kyung-hee, Director of AI-based Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “We will spare no support so that the teams selected in this competition can grow further through follow-up research, and furthermore, through the competition, AI researchers can compete with each other to secure new AI technologies and contribute to revitalizing the research ecosystem.”