The Ministry of Science and ICT said Friday it will accept applications from domestic AI consortiums through July 21 to participate in the project, which seeks to build a “Korean GPT” — a large language model to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
“We expect this to be the starting point for ‘AI for All,’ as South Korea’s top AI elite teams take on the challenge of developing a globally competitive, independent AI foundation model,” said Song Sang-hoon, deputy minister for ICT policy, in a statement. “This will help the nation leap forward as an AI powerhouse.”
The initiative, part of a broader policy roadmap presented Wednesday to the National Policy Planning Committee, aligns with President Lee Jae-myung’s campaign pledge to establish a domestically developed AI model designed for universal access and tailored to Korean linguistic and cultural needs.
Up to five consortiums will be selected in the first phase, receiving government-provided resources including graphics processing units (GPUs), curated datasets and infrastructure support.
The selected teams will be tasked with building both large language models and multimodal AI systems. The government has set an ambitious benchmark: models must perform at least 95 percent as well as leading global counterparts released within the prior six months.
An initial evaluation will take place in December and will include a competitive showcase judged by both the public and AI experts.
reporter
Kim Dong-young
davekim0807@ajupress.com
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