MSS Selects Six Firms for "Open Data X AI Challenge"...Holds Communication Roundtable

Future commercialization and financial support benefits

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 12th that it held a communication roundtable with six AI startups that were finally selected in the "Open Data X AI Challenge," together with private-sector AI experts.

Han Seongsuk, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is speaking about strategies for mutually beneficial growth between large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises at an Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 21st. 2026.1.21 Photo by Cho Yongjun

The roundtable took place at the Global Startup Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The AI Challenge is a demonstration-type project promoted to open on-site data held by public institutions to startups and to identify ways to solve problems that small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners face in the field through AI technology. Through this, the Ministry aims to combine the use of public data with private-sector technology and expand it into AI solutions that actually work in the field.

A total of 124 AI startups participated in this AI Challenge, and six companies were selected in total, two outstanding companies for each of the three tasks, through a document review, expert evaluation, and user experience evaluation. The selected companies will be given opportunities to receive support for commercialization, focusing on areas such as start-up, research and development (R&D), and professional human resources, as well as financial support such as policy fund loans and guarantees.

In the subsequent roundtable, the finally selected startups and private-sector AI experts shared their experiences in the process of developing and utilizing AI solutions and freely exchanged opinions on the possibilities for using them in policy settings. The Ministry plans to use this discussion to broadly listen to what AI startups are experiencing in the field and to take it into account when reviewing future policies to support AI startups.

Minister Han Seongsuk said, "Through this AI Challenge, we have discovered a variety of AI solutions that can be used in the field," and added, "We will continue to provide policy support so that AI technology can lead to tangible results in the field through ongoing communication with startups."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.