"National AI Capability Consolidation" Ministry of Science and ICT Launches 'AI Innovation Hub'

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The 'Artificial Intelligence Innovation Hub,' a think tank for national artificial intelligence (AI) research and talent development, has taken its first significant step.

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced on the afternoon of the 2nd that it held the launch ceremony of the 'Artificial Intelligence Innovation Hub (AI Innovation Hub)' at Korea University's Future Convergence Technology Center.

MSIT established the AI Innovation Hub to consolidate AI research capabilities accumulated by the government and the private sector, and to link infrastructure such as computing power to build a national research system with world-class competitiveness.

The AI Innovation Hub will be operated as a grand consortium centered on Korea University, with 11 universities (Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Kyung Hee University, Kyungpook National University, Sungkyunkwan University, Hanyang University, Ewha Womans University, KAIST, POSTECH, Chonnam National University, and UNIST) participating as joint research institutions. Additionally, 45 domestic and international universities, major domestic corporations such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Hyundai Motor Company, IT companies including Naver and Kakao, the three major telecommunications companies, 102 domestic small and venture enterprises, and 17 overseas companies such as Google and Facebook are participating in industry-academia cooperation through joint research and talent development.

Professor Seonghwan Lee (Dean of the AI Graduate School at Korea University), the research director of the AI Innovation Hub project, stated, “The AI Innovation Hub projects tackle enormous problems with high-risk and challenging tasks that have a very high possibility of failure. Through this project, which organically and efficiently consolidates AI personnel and research infrastructure scattered across the country centered on universities, the best AI synergy will be achieved.”

The AI Innovation Hub plans to build the K-Hub Data Center for use in super-large AI research and to link computing resources owned by the public and private sectors to secure the computing power necessary for world-class research.

Minister Hyesook Lim of MSIT said, “I hope the AI Innovation Hub will become a hub for national AI research and the cultivation of top-tier AI talent, playing a leading role in enhancing AI competitiveness. The government will spare no effort in providing national infrastructure, funding, data acquisition, and support.”