Science ministry, telecom giants join forces to boost AI competitiveness

Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon speaks during a ceremony held by the ministry and the Korea IT Fund (KIF) to announce public-private cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) investment in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

The Ministry of Science and ICT, along with major telecom companies SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, are teaming up to accelerate innovation and strengthen Korea’s position in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race.

On Tuesday, the ministry held a ceremony with the Korea IT Fund (KIF) to announce expanded public-private investment in the AI sector.

KIF is a private fund founded in 2002 with a combined investment of 300 billion won ($216 million) from the three companies. Its termination date was recently extended from 2030 to the end of 2040 and a new sub-fund focused on investment in AI was created.

The event, attended by Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon and executives from the three telecom companies, focused on outlining government and telecom company strategies to boost AI competitiveness, highlighting the growing role of private investment in determining national AI leadership.

SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang, KT CEO Kim Young-shub and LG Uplus Vice President Lee Chul-hoon met with the minister and discussed their visions for AI investment and measures for cooperation during the event.

“As AI becomes the source of all innovation, expansion in investment will provide vital support for the growth of innovative AI companies,” Bae said.

“We hope the formation of KIF’s new sub-fund energizes further investments in AI and the government will also continue to firmly strengthen its foundation for investment and cooperation with the private sector to achieve our goal of becoming one of the world’s top three AI nations.”

Since its launch, KIF has contributed to revitalizing the private investment ecosystem by creating and operating sub-funds to invest in local venture companies in the information and communication technology field. As of last year, it had established a cumulative total of 91 sub-funds, investing 4.7 trillion won in 1,669 promising start-ups in the field.

This year, the KIF parent fund plans to make a new investment of 150 billion won, which will create sub-funds totaling over 300 billion won with at least another 150 billion won in matching funds from asset managers.

Of this, more than 240 billion won will be dedicated to fostering promising AI companies related to core and foundational AI technologies, as well as AI transformation and utilization. In addition, a 40 billion won fund exclusively for AI in semiconductors and a 20 billion won fund to help commercialize ICT technology will be created.