South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced on Tuesday a substantial investment of 9.4 trillion won ($6.94 billion) in artificial intelligence (AI) by 2027.
This investment is part of South Korea’s strategy to maintain a leading position in cutting-edge semiconductor chips globally.
The announcement also includes a separate fund of 1.4 trillion won aimed at nurturing AI semiconductor firms.
This move reflects South Korea’s efforts to keep pace with countries like the United States, China, and Japan, all of which are bolstering semiconductor supply chains through significant policy support.
Semiconductors form a crucial foundation for South Korea’s export-oriented economy.
In March, chip exports soared to their highest level in 21 months, amounting to $11.7 billion or nearly one-fifth of the country’s total exports.
President Yoon emphasized the intense competition in the semiconductor industry, describing it as an “industrial war” and a battle among nations.
The planned investments and fund aim to ramp up research and development in AI chips, including artificial neural processing units (NPUs) and advanced high-bandwidth memory chips.
Additionally, South Korea plans to promote the development of next-generation artificial general intelligence (AGI) and safety technologies beyond current models.
President Yoon set ambitious targets for South Korea to rank among the top three countries in AI technology, including chips, and secure a 10% or higher share of the global system semiconductor market by 2030.
He expressed confidence in South Korea’s potential to lead the semiconductor industry, drawing parallels with the country’s dominance in memory chips over the past three decades and envisioning a similar success story with AI chips in the next three decades.
President Yoon also addressed concerns about the recent earthquake in Taiwan, a major player in the semiconductor sector.
While acknowledging limited impact on South Korean companies so far, he emphasized the need for thorough preparation to mitigate potential uncertainties.
Source-CNN
