Fostering the Domestic AI Semiconductor Industry... 'A Unified Ecosystem for Fragmented Technologies Needed'

Expert Recommendations at National Assembly AI Forum
Urgent Need for Integration of Fragmented Ecosystem
Proposal to Focus on On-Device AI Technology

On January 13, a suggestion was made at the National Assembly AI Forum that South Korea should establish an artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor industry ecosystem and seek strategies to export an integrated ecosystem. Experts unanimously agreed that government-led support for related industries and inter-industry collaboration are necessary.

The National Assembly Artificial Intelligence Forum held an invited lecture at the National Assembly on this day to discuss strategies for fostering the AI semiconductor industry. Ahn Ki-hyun, Secretary General of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, emphasized the importance of AI semiconductors-specialized chips that enable AI to operate faster and more accurately-and introduced the development strategies of companies and governments in the United States and China.

President Lee Jae-myung is holding a Puriosa AI NPU chip at Puriosa AI in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in April last year when he was a presidential candidate. Photo by Yonhap News

Ahn stated, “South Korea possesses a variety of technologies and businesses within the AI ecosystem, but these are fragmented and separated by layers, each advancing independently. The government should take the lead and, through alliances among related industries, establish a nationwide virtual big tech ecosystem.” He proposed that industries such as AI services, automotive, consumer electronics, bio, cloud infrastructure, and semiconductors should jointly operate and build an integrated AI demonstration platform. The government should secure competitiveness through support for public projects, testbeds, and investments, and then enter the global market.

Kim Yongseok, Director of the Semiconductor Education Center at Gachon University, suggested that South Korea should focus on developing on-device AI technology, which enables inference and implementation directly on the device without the need for cloud or server connections. He explained that this technology offers excellent security, requires less power, eliminates communication burdens, and is based on raw data. The proposal also included the idea of forming an AI semiconductor alliance among domestic manufacturers to build an ecosystem by prioritizing support for sectors such as automotive, IoT and home appliances, defense, machinery, and robotics.

The National Assembly Artificial Intelligence Forum is a parliamentary research group led by Assemblywoman Lee Inseon.