[Special Report] Fabless Companies Cluster in Gwangju... The Dawn of the AI Revolution Begins

Solid Talent Development Pipeline, Attractive Core Infrastructure
City Attracts Leading Global Semiconductor Design Companies
FuriosaAI, Eslim Korea, AsicLand, AimFuture Join Gwangju
Development of Gwangju-Style AI Semiconductors Through Collaboration with Local Companies and Institutions
Mayor Kang Gijung: "Synergy Expected Through Convergence with Key Industries"

Recently, there has been a trend of semiconductor design (fabless) companies moving to Gwangju. An artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is taking place in Gwangju, which was once a barren land for semiconductor design. Notably, most of the companies settling in Gwangju are leading global enterprises, signaling a positive outlook for the city’s efforts to establish an AI industry foundation.

Why have world-class companies chosen Gwangju? The answer, according to industry insiders, lies in the city’s solid talent development pipeline and attractive core infrastructure. This is encapsulated in the phrase, “Gwangju, the representative city of AI.”

Kang Kijeong, mayor of Gwangju, attended the opening ceremony of Aisic Land Co., Ltd.'s Gwangju office held at Gwangju Real Content Cube (GCC) on the afternoon of the 15th and unveiled the signboard. Provided by Gwangju City

◇ Gwangju City’s Achievements in Attracting Companies

Last year and this year, Gwangju City signed a series of business agreements with global fabless companies. On the 1st of this month, the city signed a “Gwangju-Style AI Business Agreement” with FuriosaAI Co., Ltd. and Eslim Korea Co., Ltd. According to the agreement, FuriosaAI and Eslim Korea will participate in Gwangju’s AI semiconductor industry ecosystem, collaborating on product development and infrastructure expansion, while the city will actively support the companies’ technology development and business growth.

Now that the city has secured not only NVIDIA’s H100 GPU, owned by the National AI Data Center, but also FuriosaAI, which develops and mass-produces inference neural processing units (NPUs), it expects the value chain of Gwangju’s AI semiconductor industry to become even more robust. FuriosaAI is recognized as a key player in the domestic and global AI markets, based on its high-performance AI semiconductor design technology. After developing and mass-producing its first-generation product, WARBOY, in 2021?the first large-scale domestic production?the company also collaborated with TSMC in Taiwan and others last year to develop the RNGD chip, which accelerates inference for large language models (LLMs).

Eslim Korea, a leading IT infrastructure company, maintains the top domestic market share in server manufacturing and supply, leveraging its unrivaled technological prowess. The company provides high-performance servers, storage, and GPU equipment, along with technical services, to major domestic big tech firms. In the AI field, servers play a critical role in model research, development, and stable operation. Eslim Korea will provide optimized high-performance servers and storage, as well as stable infrastructure, to AI semiconductor companies in Gwangju.

Previously, in August last year, Gwangju City succeeded in attracting AsicLand Co., Ltd., followed by AimFuture Co., Ltd. in September, laying the groundwork for Gwangju-style AI semiconductor development. By bringing in AsicLand and AimFuture?the region’s first fabless companies?the city completed a semiconductor production system encompassing “fabless (design)?fab (manufacturing)?packaging.” Until now, Gwangju lacked a semiconductor design and manufacturing base, but collaboration with fabless companies has established a foundation for developing and producing Gwangju-style AI semiconductors that meet local business needs and can be applied to products. By providing specialized training and high-quality jobs to local youth, these companies are expected to have a positive ripple effect on the regional industrial ecosystem as well as economic benefits.

AsicLand, the first fabless company attracted to Gwangju, has also opened an office in the city. On the 15th, AsicLand held an opening ceremony at the Gwangju Realistic Content Cube (GCC) in Nam-gu, Gwangju. AimFuture, the second company, is also scheduled to open a Gwangju office at the GCC next month.

AsicLand and AimFuture plan to actively develop on-device AI semiconductor chips (Gwangju-style AI semiconductors) and solutions, converging with existing companies and regional strategic industries, with offices based in Gwangju. The city plans to establish a collaborative network by applying the developed Gwangju-style AI semiconductor chips to products of local demand companies and commercializing them.

Kang Kijeong, mayor of Gwangju, is taking a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement to establish an AI and semiconductor industry ecosystem in Gwangju with Baek Junho, CEO of Puriosa AI Inc., and Yoon Youngtae, CEO of Eslim Korea Inc., at the city hall business room on the afternoon of the 1st. Photo by Gwangju City

◇ ‘AI Revolution’ in a Fabless Wasteland

With agreements involving fabless companies such as FuriosaAI, Eslim Korea, AsicLand, and AimFuture, Gwangju is being recognized as having ushered in the dawn of an “AI revolution.”

FuriosaAI’s products are acknowledged for their superior power efficiency compared to NVIDIA’s H100 of similar specifications, and their price competitiveness has attracted attention from global big tech companies such as Meta and TSMC.

Eslim Korea supports companies’ AI solution development capabilities by supplying high-performance AI servers equipped with the latest semiconductors such as NPUs and GPUs, and by providing technical support. The company has also established a Gwangju office, contributing to job creation and building a win-win model with the local community.

AsicLand, a leading design house and the only domestic partner (VCA) of TSMC in Taiwan, is responsible for redesigning semiconductor blueprints created by fabless companies so they can be produced by TSMC.

AimFuture, a chipless company, provides intellectual property (IP) for NPU accelerators?system semiconductors specialized for AI processing?as well as AI algorithm development and optimization solutions.

With the attraction of these companies, the city can now reflect local business needs and integrate semiconductor chips produced using TSMC’s foundry into products of regional companies, from design to production. In particular, collaboration with Amkor Technology Korea, a leading semiconductor packaging company, is expected to help build a full-cycle semiconductor industry ecosystem. The city plans to cluster AI semiconductor companies through the attraction of design companies and to further advance the collaborative system with existing firms.

National AI Data Center exterior. Provided by Gwangju City

◇ AI Infrastructure

What are the factors that led global fabless companies to choose Gwangju as their base? According to AI companies, it’s the infrastructure: a solid talent development pipeline and the foundational facilities for business operations.

In reality, Gwangju has a systematic and established regular education curriculum, including an AI-based children’s imagination playground, the “SW Miraechaeum” AI curriculum for elementary and middle school students, AI gifted high schools, AI convergence colleges, the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) AI graduate school, and Chonnam National University’s AI convergence graduate school.

Additionally, the city has established AI infrastructure. In 2019, the city selected AI for a 24.1 trillion won national balanced development project led by the government, and has been promoting the “AI-Centric Industrial Convergence Complex Development Project.”

The first phase of the AI convergence complex project (2020?2024) invested 426.9 billion won to build core infrastructure such as an AI data center and 77 types of demonstration equipment, including a super-large driving simulator, all essential for AI technology development. By clustering companies and talent in one place, the city established the first non-metropolitan AI industry ecosystem in Korea. The AI-specialized data center, equipped with the nation’s top-level computing resources (88.5 PF), began service in November 2023, and the super-large driving simulator will be completed by the end of this year.

The second phase will focus on creating an AI demonstration valley, leveraging the infrastructure and talent development from the first phase to drive the development and demonstration of various AI convergence technologies.

Kang Kijeong, mayor of Gwangju, is taking a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement ceremony between Gwangju City, Aim Future, local companies, and institutions to revitalize the Gwangju AI and semiconductor industry ecosystem on the morning of October 25 last year in the city hall's medium conference room. Provided by Gwangju City

◇ ‘Gwangju’s Dream’ for the Future

The future-oriented AI industry envisioned by Gwangju City is the “Gwangju-Style AI Semiconductor Cluster Model.” The city, invited companies, local businesses, and related organizations will work together to build a cooperative system that covers everything from the design, production, testing, and commercialization of semiconductor chips infused with AI for regional strategic industries.

Through collaboration between FuriosaAI, Eslim Korea, AsicLand, AimFuture, and local companies, the goal is to complete on-device AI semiconductor chips and solutions. Related organizations such as the AI Industry Convergence Project Group and Gwangju Technopark will verify the feasibility of Gwangju-style AI semiconductors, while local companies like AlphaNox Co., Ltd. will establish systems to commercialize products by applying these chips and solutions.

The city notes that while there have been many attempts to develop domestic AI semiconductors in other regions, including the Seoul metropolitan area, there have been no commercialized cases to date. If Gwangju succeeds in developing products by integrating Gwangju-style AI semiconductors with regional strategic industries such as automobiles, home appliances, and healthcare, it is expected to become a representative success story for domestic AI semiconductors.

Gwangju Mayor Kang Gijung said, “Gwangju is home to more than 100 AI companies and startups, the nation’s only National AI Convergence Complex, and an AI data center. The comprehensive talent development ladder plan, covering everyone from children to middle and high school students, university students, and professionals, is a source of pride for Gwangju, the representative city of AI.”

Mayor Kang also emphasized, “With continued efforts to attract companies, the clustering of AI companies in Gwangju is progressing. If we succeed in developing Gwangju-style AI semiconductors, the competitiveness of local companies’ products?which have so far relied on foreign semiconductors?will also improve. In the future, we expect to see not only synergistic effects through convergence with regional flagship industries such as automobiles and healthcare, but also various positive impacts such as the creation of quality jobs through corporate recruitment.”