The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 29th that it, along with the National Information and Communication Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), will call for cloud corporations to participate in a project to secure and lease graphics processing units (GPUs) with a supplementary budget of 1.63 trillion won by the end of next month. The ministry plans to complete evaluations, selections, and contract signings by July.
On the same day, the Ministry of Science and ICT held an integrated briefing session for cloud service providers (CSPs) and others at COEX in Gangnam, Seoul, regarding the GPU acquisition and leasing project. The call for CSPs to collaborate in the GPU acquisition and leasing project will continue until the end of next month, serving as an event to enhance the understanding of industry stakeholders participating in this project.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to invest 1.46 trillion won to secure GPUs. This project, aimed at acquiring and building advanced GPUs through public-private partnerships, will support domestic industry, academia, and research organizations. Additionally, a GPU leasing project worth 172.3 billion won will be carried out. This project aims to lease GPUs held by cloud corporations to support the World Best LLM (tentative name) project and domestic industry, academia, and research organizations.
Through this integrated briefing session, the Ministry of Science and ICT explained the project overview and policy direction. It also provided details on the specific application process, evaluation criteria, and support conditions.