According to Yonhap News,

South Korea's science ministry said Monday it has selected five consortiums led by leading artificial intelligence (AI) players that will receive government support to develop indigenous AI models, a move aimed at bolstering the country's competitiveness in the sector.

The five consortiums, led respectively by Naver Cloud Corp., Upstage, SK Telecom Co., NC AI Co. and LG AI Research, will receive state support to develop homegrown AI foundation models, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

A foundation model refers to a large-scale system trained on broad data that can be used to perform a wide range of tasks.

"The project will mark the beginning of the development of AI for everyone," Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said in a release.

"The government will proactively support the leap of South Korea's AI businesses and related organizations, as well as the expansion of the sovereign AI ecosystem," Bae added.

The five consortiums will have access to the government's related resources, including graphics processing unit assets worth 157.6 billion won (US$113 million).

The government plans to sign official deals with the five consortiums on the scope of state support in early August.

The country will narrow down the number of funded consortiums to four based on their performance by the end of this year, it added.


colin@yna.co.kr

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Source: Yonhap News (August 4, 2025)