Challenging AI Research with the US, Canada, and Others
Building Collaborative Networks through International Seminars
AI Safety Institute Scheduled to Launch Next Month
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) held the opening ceremony of the 'National AI Research Hub' on the 28th at the Seoul AI Hub in Yangjae, Seoul. The government plans to solidify the foundation for South Korea's leap to becoming one of the top three AI powers through the National AI Research Hub, which will conduct world-class international AI joint research.
The opening ceremony was attended by over 100 key figures from politics and government, including Yoo Sang-im, Minister of Science and ICT; Oh Se-hoon, Mayor of Seoul; Shin Dong-wook, Member of the National Assembly; Lee Kyung-woo, AI and Digital Secretary of the Presidential Office; Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho District; as well as Hong Jin-bae, Director of IITP; Lee Kwang-hyung, President of KAIST; Yoo Hyuk, Vice President for Research at Korea University; Lee Won-yong, Vice President for Research at Yonsei University; and representatives from industry, academia, research institutes, and related organizations.
The National AI Research Hub will be established at the Yangjae Seoul AI Hub as a central AI research point representing South Korea. It will serve as a platform where leading domestic and international researchers exchange ideas, conduct world-class international AI joint research, nurture global AI leaders, and consolidate the AI industry-academia-research ecosystem.
Researchers from prestigious overseas institutions in the United States, Canada, France, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will also reside in the country for certain periods to conduct challenging international AI joint research, such as neural scaling law transcendence studies and robot foundation model research. A global cooperation network will be built and continuously expanded through regular international seminars and other activities.
Lee Kwang-hyung, President of KAIST and the lead institution of the National AI Research Hub, stated, "I hope domestic and international AI researchers will exchange ideas and carry out creative AI research." Oh Se-hoon, Mayor of Seoul, where the National AI Research Hub is located, promised, "Seoul will fully support becoming a global AI hub where world-class AI researchers gather."
In the keynote speeches that followed, Professor Kim Ki-eung, head of the National AI Research Hub, presented the 'National AI Research Hub Operation Plan,' and Professor Pascal Poupart, a professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada and concurrently at the Vector Institute, presented the future vision of AI under the theme 'Artificial Intelligence: The Singularity of Technology Development.'
The government is currently executing an all-out effort to realize the vision of South Korea's leap to AI G3, including launching an AI Safety Research Institute next month. It also plans to actively support parliamentary discussions for the enactment of the AI Basic Act.
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