AI Accelerators for Autonomous Vehicles and Ultra-Fast Charging Within 8 Minutes to Be Added to Next Year's R&D

Starting next year, research and development (R&D) will begin on AI accelerator semiconductors for autonomous vehicles that surpass NVIDIA, next-generation hybrid powertrains for tanks that outperform the U.S. AbramsX, and ultra-fast charging technology guaranteed to be safe within 8 minutes.

On the 2nd, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the 2nd Strategic Planning Investment Council, which included private experts from companies, research institutes, and universities, and announced that it reviewed 62 new R&D projects for 2025, including flagship projects, and roadmaps for 11 super-gap project areas.

First, as new R&D tasks for 2025, they plan to develop universal and open next-generation AI accelerator semiconductors for vehicles and ultra-high-speed autonomous vehicle network systems to realize level 4 and above autonomous driving. They will also develop hybrid powertrain technology for next-generation manned-unmanned combined tanks that surpass the U.S. next-generation tank AbramsX.

They plan to develop the world's first and highest-level 500-megawatt (MW) large-capacity long-duration thermal storage (Carnot) battery commercialization technology and the world's first 200MW-class compressed air energy storage (ESS) technology using an artificial tunnel method. To respond to power grid instability due to the increased share of nuclear power, they will also develop world-class core technologies for flexible nuclear power plant operation.

Additionally, they plan to develop the world's first autostereoscopic 3D display core technology that provides realism and viewing safety, as well as commercialization-level ultra-fast charging technology within 8 minutes with guaranteed safety.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy also announced the super-gap project roadmaps for 11 fields, which were jointly established by a total of 341 private experts through project teams, sector-specific PM groups, and the super-gap operating committee.

This roadmap added five new projects: on-device AI semiconductors tailored to key industries, next-generation batteries and hydrogen fuel cell systems for future vehicles, eight core robot technologies, AI autonomous manufacturing integrated solutions, and AI unmanned robots for military threat detection and response.

Kang Kyung-sung, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, "The 2025 new industrial and energy R&D projects will focus the budget on challenging and innovative research that is difficult for the private sector to invest in alone and on R&D that creates impactful economic outcomes."