Government Changes Plan, Excludes Naver and NC Instead of Dropping Only One Team
Naver Cloud and NC AI have been eliminated in the first evaluation phase of the government's independent artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model project. The original plan was to eliminate only one out of five elite teams, but the government decided to eliminate two teams and recruit one additional elite team. This signals an intention to boldly exclude teams that did not meet the evaluation criteria and to restructure the competitive landscape, rather than simply maintaining the existing lineup.
On January 15, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced the results of the first phase evaluation for the independent AI foundation model project. As a result, only three of the original five elite teams-LG AI Research, SK Telecom, and Upstage-advanced to the second phase, while Naver Cloud and NC AI were eliminated for failing to meet the originality criteria. To secure AI models at a global top-tier level and maintain ecosystem competition, the government decided to select one additional elite team.
The first phase evaluation consisted of: ▲benchmark assessment (40 points), ▲expert assessment (35 points), and ▲user assessment (25 points). The benchmark assessment included the NIA common benchmark and global common/individual benchmarks. For the expert assessment, ten external experts from academia, industry, and research institutions analyzed technical reports and training logs to comprehensively evaluate development strategy, achievements, and potential impact. The user assessment involved 49 professional users, including AI startup CEOs, who verified practical usability and cost efficiency.
Overall, LG AI Research achieved the highest scores across all benchmark, expert, and user assessments. Ultimately, LG AI Research, SK Telecom, and Upstage were confirmed as teams advancing to the second phase.
The Ministry of Science and ICT clearly presented the standards for an 'independent AI foundation model' in terms of technology, policy, and ethics during this evaluation. Technologically, the minimum requirements included original architecture design, independent acquisition and processing of large-scale data, and fully independent implementation of the entire training process, such as pre-training after weight initialization. On the policy side, the emphasis was on reducing reliance on foreign models in areas of national security and critical infrastructure, and securing sovereignty in operation and control. Ethically, compliance with open-source licenses and enhancing transparency were required when utilizing open-source resources.
Based on these criteria, the Naver Cloud elite team's model was deemed not to meet the originality standard, and the expert evaluation committee also pointed out limitations in originality. As a result, Naver Cloud and NC AI were eliminated in the first phase.
The government stated that the purpose of the project is to provide all participating companies with opportunities to advance globally. Therefore, the application process will be reopened to both previously eliminated consortia and other capable companies, with plans to select one additional elite team. The newly selected team will be granted opportunities such as GPU and data support, as well as the use of the 'K-AI' designation, to develop an independent AI foundation model. The additional recruitment will proceed swiftly, and the government aims to establish a competitive system of four elite teams in total.
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