[Paek Jongmin's Deep Tech] Where Does Korea Stand as AI and Quantum Competition Intensifies?

U.S. and Chinese Companies Continue to Showcase Achievements
Blaming the Government Alone Highlights the Lack of Initiative from Korean Firms
We Must Remember the Foresight of Previous Leaders Who Navigated the Internet and Smartphone Waves

The shockwaves triggered by the start of Donald Trump's second term as President of the United States in 2025 show no signs of subsiding anytime soon. President Trump's successive remarks on tariffs are causing a fundamental crisis for South Korean exports. Amid the chaos in South Korea's national affairs due to the aftermath of martial law, the private sector, led by Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Chey Tae-won, urgently visited the United States, but no effective solution has been found.

The main trend in Trump's second term can be described as a technological hegemony competition. Artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technology, and semiconductors are the core targets.

As President Trump pressures to revive the domestic semiconductor industry, there are reports that Taiwan's TSMC and Broadcom are preparing to split up and acquire Intel. This is shocking. TSMC was previously targeted by President Trump, who accused the company of taking away the U.S. semiconductor industry, and Broadcom had its attempted acquisition of Qualcomm, a smartphone modem chip company, blocked by President Trump during his first term. Despite both companies having their own vulnerabilities, they are now being given an opportunity to expand in ways that align with the Trump administration's interests.

President Trump has been connected with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists since before last year's presidential election. By appointing Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, and Vice President JD Vance as close advisors, he pledged to ease AI regulations and acted on it immediately. While some criticize him for targeting allies first, the ultimate adversary is China.

The situation was better in the early days of Trump's first term. At that time, the United States had good relations with China and Russia. Although conflicts intensified in the latter half of his presidency, China gave President Trump a grand welcome during his visit. It was clear that President Trump also tried to maintain a positive relationship with China. There must have been a reason why Trump's granddaughter even sang a Chinese folk song for President Xi Jinping.

But what about now? Coinciding with President Trump's inauguration, China launched an ultra-precise, nuclear-bomb-level AI called DeepSeek into the American sphere. This happened the day after the Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok disappeared from the Apple App Store due to U.S. regulations. The number one spot in downloads, previously held by TikTok, was immediately taken by DeepSeek. It's as if pulling out a troublesome tooth resulted in a much bigger cavity overnight.

The pride the United States had in building itself up as the world's leading AI powerhouse has been deeply wounded. The AI sector, which had been a battleground among American companies such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Copilot, must now fiercely compete with DeepSeek, which is believed to be receiving full support from the Chinese government.

The United States was overconfident. The misjudgment that simply blocking Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) would prevent the rise of Chinese AI backfired. While America's achievements were certainly unrivaled, its pressure on China only served to awaken a giant.

What about us? Technologies like AI and quantum, which until recently were considered "dreams of the future," are rapidly becoming reality, yet investments have lagged due to budget constraints and uncertainty. It is difficult to find a spirit of innovation or a drive to lead in the management of government budgets, private conglomerate reserves, or finance. While the shock of DeepSeek has prompted fiscal authorities to allocate government funds for GPU procurement, the situation for quantum technology is even worse. The confession of a major conglomerate's quantum division manager that they "endured purely on grit" is shocking.

We have wisely adapted to the internet and smartphone revolutions that arrived every decade. This was possible because business leaders listened to the voices of researchers at the forefront of competition. It is time to revisit the bold decisions made by previous generations of management.