Step-by-step Support for Over 1,000 GPUs
Up to 2 Billion Won Matching for Attracting Overseas Researchers
Contribution Plans Reflected in Elite Team Selection
The government is recruiting elite domestic teams to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model in order to secure a 'Korean-style ChatGPT' with global competitiveness. The goal is to achieve performance at least 95% that of the latest global AI models, with support for more than 1,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) and matching funding for outstanding overseas researchers' personnel costs of up to 2 billion won per year.
On June 20, the Ministry of Science and ICT, together with the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), the National Information Society Agency (NIA), and the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP), began accepting applications for elite domestic teams to participate in the 'Independent AI Foundation Model' project. Applications will be accepted for about one month, from today until July 21.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to select up to five elite teams, mainly consisting of domestic AI companies and institutions, through this call. Participation is open to consortia and other forms, but undergraduate or graduate student participation is mandatory to foster future AI talent. The selected elite teams will be able to directly propose specific development strategies and methodologies, aiming for performance at least 95% that of global AI models released within the past six months.
However, not all five teams will continue to receive support. The plan is to narrow down the teams through stage evaluations every six months. Starting from December, the stage evaluations will include multidimensional assessments such as: contest-based evaluations by the public and experts; verification based on domestic and international benchmarks and Korean language performance and safety verification systems; and derivative evaluations based on the number of derivative AI models. Through these six-month stage evaluations, the ministry aims to respond flexibly to the rapidly changing AI technology environment.
The elite teams will receive comprehensive support for resources needed to develop their models, such as GPUs, data, and talent. In terms of GPUs, each team will start with 500 units, with support increasing to more than 1,000 units based on stage evaluations. The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to lease GPUs held by the private sector (first supplementary budget, 157.6 billion won) for support until the first half of next year, after which government-purchased GPUs (first supplementary budget, 10,000 advanced GPUs) will be used.
For data, the government will support both joint purchases of copyrighted data and the construction and processing of data by individual elite teams. Each team will receive up to 10 billion won per year for joint data purchases, and 3 to 5 billion won per year for data construction and processing. If an elite team takes the initiative in recruiting outstanding overseas Korean researchers, the government will provide matching support for personnel and research costs of up to 2 billion won per year. Talent support will continue through 2027, regardless of the narrowing of elite teams, to ensure continuity in securing AI talent.
In this case, Lee Kyungwoo, the head of the National AI Committee Support Group, is briefing the 'World Best Large Language Model (LLM)' (hereinafter WBL) project at the Government Seoul Office Building on February 20. The 'Independent AI Foundation Model' is the official name of the WBL project. Yonhap News
The AI foundation models developed through this initiative will be open source-oriented and are expected to spread throughout the domestic AI ecosystem. When applying, elite teams must present plans for contributing to the nation, such as improving public AI accessibility and supporting public, economic, and social AI transformation, and these plans will be reflected in the selection evaluation. The government matching ratio will also vary depending on the size of the participating company and the level of open source provided.
Song Sanghoon, Director General of Information and Communications Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "This project aims not only to develop an independent AI foundation model, but also to secure Korea's technological sovereignty in the AI era and to build an ecosystem that fosters growth for all."
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