Google to open AI campus in Korea

President Lee Jae Myung speaks with Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

Google will open an artificial intelligence (AI) campus in Korea within this year in line with the Korean government’s expanded cooperation with global AI companies, a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said Monday.

Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy, said the envisioned campus is anticipated to facilitate Google's cooperation with startups and researchers in Korea. It will be the first in the world outside the United Kingdom, where its AI research lab Google DeepMind is headquartered.

Kim said Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, disclosed the plan during his meeting with President Lee Jae Myung at Cheong Wa Dae.

"Hassabis agreed to actively consider dispatching Google researchers to Korea," Kim said. "The CEO instantly accepted our request to send at least 10."

The meeting came as Korea strives to become one of the world’s top three AI powerhouses, alongside the United States and China.

Lee and Hassabis discussed a range of cooperative measures, such as advancing the country's AI ecosystem and promoting the responsible use of related technologies.

The president said that international principles and standards are needed to ensure the safe use of AI, and that the current frameworks are insufficient.

Hassabis agreed, noting that with increasing competition in the private sector and intensifying technological rivalry between the U.S. and China, it is not easy to establish international norms, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

He added that countries such as Korea, the U.K. and Singapore urgently need to cooperate to build a broader framework and apply collective intelligence to develop safety measures.

Later in the day, Hassabis met Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Seoul later to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The MOU outlined key areas of cooperation, including joint AI research in science and technology, AI skill development and the responsible use of AI.

The science ministry assessed that cooperation with Google DeepMind will bolster Korea's “K-Moonshot” project, which brings together AI and science capabilities to tackle major national challenges.

Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, on Monday presented President Lee Jae Myung with a Go board signed by him and Korean Go master Lee Se-dol to mark the 10th anniversary of the master’s match with AlphaGo, a Go-playing artificial intelligence developed by Google DeepMind. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae

Google DeepMind heralded the start of what is now recognized as the modern era of AI in 2016, when AlphaGo, a Go-playing AI, captured a 4–1 victory against world-class Korean master Lee Se-dol in a five-game match in Seoul.

The game of Go is known locally as "baduk." The 2016 match took place at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Google DeepMind subsequently demonstrated the potential of AI applications in science and technology through AlphaFold.

AlphaFold’s achievement in solving the long-standing challenge of protein structure prediction led to Hassabis being jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2024.

Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon, left, and Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, shake hands while each holding a copy of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in downtown Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

The Seoul government seeks to use the K-Moonshot project to raise research productivity to the world’s fifth-highest level by 2030 and use AI to address 12 national missions by 2035, in areas including advanced biotechnology, energy, space and semiconductors.

“If AlphaGo opened the era of AI a decade ago, we are now entering a stage where AI is solving complex challenges in science and technology and having a tangible impact on people’s lives,” Bae remarked.

He said the MOU will “serve as a key opportunity for the two organizations to cooperate in accelerating AI-driven innovation in science and technology centered on Korea’s K-Moonshot."

Hassabis was quoted by the ministry as saying, “Korea has become a very special place for Google since the historic AlphaGo match.”

He explained that Google is beginning a new journey to expand the frontiers of bio innovation and weather forecasting, while also working as a partner to help build safeguards that ensure the responsible development of AI.

Hassabis was the latest high-profile AI business leader to meet the president, following OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, SoftBank Group’s Masayoshi Son and BlackRock’s Larry Fink.