On Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced that his nation is set to channel 9.4 trillion won ($6.94 billion) into artificial intelligence development by 2027. This move aims to maintain South Korea’s forefront status in the advanced semiconductor chip sector.
Included in this initiative is the establishment of a 1.4 trillion won fund dedicated to nurturing AI semiconductor companies. The announcement comes soon after Canada announced a similar fund worth billions of dollars for its AI sector.
This strategy emerges as South Korea endeavors to remain competitive with other leading nations such as the United States, China, and Japan, all of which are significantly investing in policy support to bolster their domestic semiconductor supply chains.
South Korea’s economy, heavily reliant on exports, finds its strength in the semiconductor industry. This March, the country’s chip exports surged to an impressive $11.7 billion, marking the highest point in 21 months and accounting for almost 20% of the total exports from the nation, ranked as the fourth-largest economy in Asia.
During a meeting of policymakers and chip industry experts on Tuesday, President Yoon said: “Current competition in semiconductors is an industrial war and an all-out war between nations.”
The government has announced its intention to channel substantial investments and establish a fund dedicated to enhancing the research and development sector, particularly focusing on AI chips, including artificial neural processing units (NPUs) and cutting-edge high-bandwidth memory chips.
Moreover, the South Korean government is set to spearhead the advancement of revolutionary artificial general intelligence (AGI) and safety technologies, aiming to pioneer beyond the current technological frameworks.
President Yoon has ambitious plans for South Korea, aiming to position the country within the top three global leaders in AI technology, including semiconductors, and to capture at least a 10% share of the worldwide system semiconductor market by 2030.
He said: “Just as we have dominated the world with memory chips for the past 30 years, we will write a new semiconductor myth with AI chips in the next 30 years.”
In addition, Yoon acknowledged the minimal immediate impact on South Korean firms from the recent earthquake in Taiwan, a dominant force in the semiconductor industry. However, he has mandated comprehensive measures to brace for any potential uncertainties.
Via: Reuters
