The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 14th that it has finalized the plan to secure advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) following a review and decision at the Economic Ministers' Meeting and the Ministerial Meeting on Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement.
The government said it will accelerate the establishment of the national artificial intelligence (AI) computing center and Supercomputer No. 6. At the same time, it officially announced plans to secure 10,000 GPUs within the year and has prepared a supplementary budget of 1.46 trillion won for the acquisition of advanced GPUs.
The government plans to select cloud service providers (CSPs) that can quickly secure, build, and operate advanced large-scale GPUs through public offerings.
Initially, CSPs participating in the national AI computing center will be prioritized, and a separate expert committee will be formed to conduct both written and presentation evaluations along with field inspections.
The evaluation will focus on the companies' capabilities in securing advanced large-scale GPUs relative to financial input versus computing performance, rapid execution of GPU services, and the proportion and plan for self-utilization of GPU resources (considering the nature of CSP operating expenses).
After the selection, agreements of five-year terms regarding rights will be established with the selected CSPs. The agreements are expected to include the securing of GPU ownership by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), GPU usage at the national AI computing center, and the allowance for self-utilization of some GPU resources by the designated CSPs.
The government noted that it will prepare existing data center infrastructure owned by the corresponding corporations in advance during the GPU purchasing and securing process.
After the GPU purchase and establishment, the government plans to strategically allocate GPU support focusing on domestic industry-academic-research partnerships and national projects through a special purpose corporation (SPC), while also establishing a regular support system.
In particular, the government said it would carefully assess domestic GPU demand and usage from the acquisition and construction processes to develop and implement tailored GPU support methods.
Additionally, it plans to flexibly adjust the GPU support ratio based on total market demand surveys and analyses, policy priorities, and performances/results.
The burden of GPU usage on domestic industry-academic-research partnerships will be set at an appropriate level. The government also plans to establish specific burden levels by September of this year, considering the scale of utilization institutions and the self-contribution levels of other projects.
The Ministry of Science and ICT stated that on the 16th, it will discuss GPU acquisition with NVIDIA and quickly promote the selection process for companies after a preliminary briefing for CSPs. It also noted its commitment to securing GPUs within the year and pushing forward services through public-private partnerships.