Korea University Consortium to Execute AI Innovation Hub Project with 44.5 Billion KRW Support

K-Hub Grand Consortium
215 Domestic and International Industry, Academia, and Research Institutions Participating

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 29th that the "K-Hub Grand Consortium," led by Korea University, has been finally selected as the institution to carry out the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Hub project.

The newly selected K-Hub Grand Consortium includes a total of 215 institutions, comprising 57 domestic and international universities, 119 companies, and 18 research institutes. It plans to collaborate with 31 overseas universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), 102 domestic large, medium, and venture companies, as well as 17 overseas companies including Google and Facebook.

The K-Hub Grand Consortium will receive approximately 44.5 billion KRW in funding over the next five years to undertake roles such as ▲ high-level and challenging research in the AI field ▲ creation of an open research environment ▲ nurturing top-tier talent, thereby strengthening national AI capabilities and talent development.

The research groups will conduct research on ultra-large-scale AI development to secure core source technologies and specialized AI research in fields such as robotics, drones, mobile, medical, and energy.

To establish a research environment necessary for large-scale research projects, a computing center with a capacity of 50 petaflops (PF), capable of simultaneous use by up to 1,000 people, will be built, and computing infrastructures of companies such as KT and Naver will also be linked.

An AI convergence course will be operated for master's and doctoral students from other majors within universities, along with credit exchanges between universities and AI convergence technology courses for employees of local companies.

Cho Kyung-sik, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “The latest AI research is becoming larger and more complex, so it is necessary to bring together the capabilities of the country's top researchers to compete globally.” He added, “Since most of the leading researchers in the domestic AI field are participating in this AI Innovation Hub, it is expected to serve as a pivotal point that will elevate Korea’s AI capabilities to a new level.”