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2 clusters · 12 sources · 30 days · First seen · Last updated

South Korean AI infrastructure and model development

Overview

South Korea is advancing its artificial intelligence infrastructure and sovereign model development through significant government and private sector coordination.

In July 2026, the Deputy Prime Minister and Science and ICT Minister met with CEOs from SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus to coordinate a nationwide rollout of AI-driven data centre (AIDC) infrastructure. The government has earmarked 550 trillion won for an initial gigawatt-scale build-out, with plans to reach 10 GW of capacity by 2035. Major telecom players have announced specific expansion plans, including SK Telecom’s goal of 15 GW by 2035 and KT’s 5 trillion won investment for 1 GW of capacity.

By August 2026, the focus expanded to the development of sovereign AI foundation models. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the results of a second evaluation for its sovereign AI project, where LG AI Research, SK Telecom, and Upstage advanced to the next stage. While startup Motif Technologies achieved the highest score on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (AAII) benchmark, it was eliminated due to reported struggles in usability and practical application categories. The remaining three teams will compete for two final spots to be determined by the end of the year.

To support these technological advancements, the government intends to increase computing resource allocations, specifically raising the support of NVIDIA B200 GPUs from approximately 768 units in the first half of the year to about 1,000 units in the second half. The project aims to develop homegrown AI models capable of competing with leading global technologies from the United States and China.

Entities

AI Summit Seoul & Expo · Ministry of Science and ICT · Motif Technologies · Motif Technology · Upstage

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

Timeline

  1. 9 days ago

    [TECHNOLOGY] 12 sources
    LG AI Research, SK Telecom, and Upstage advance in South Korean AI project

    LG AI Research, SK Telecom, and Upstage have advanced to the third stage of South Korea's national AI foundation model project, while Motif Technologies was eliminated.

  2. about 1 month ago

    [TECHNOLOGY] 3 sources
    South Korea's telecom CEOs and deputy prime minister pledge AI data center expansion

    South Korea’s deputy prime minister and telecom CEOs agreed to invest 1,000 trillion won in AI data centres, aiming for 10 GW by 2035 with major projects from SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus.

Sources

biz.heraldcorp.com · cnmo.com · d-cuba.com · english.hani.co.kr · hellot.net · kidd.co.kr · koreaherald.com · m.koreatimes.co.kr · socialvalue.kr · techholic.co.kr · venturesquare.net · zdnet.co.kr

This summary has been updated 1 time: see revision history