President Lee Jae-myung is holding a discussion with Chief Secretary Ha Jung-woo on the topic of 'AI and the Republic of Korea, and Me' in March./Courtesy of Democratic Party of Korea

President Lee Jae-myung's appointment of former Naver Cloud Center head Ha Jung-woo as the first AI future planning senior secretary signifies his commitment to strengthening the development of 'Sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI)' at the national level. President Lee promised an era of '100 trillion won in AI investment' during his campaign and has chosen Ha as a key aide to realize this vision.

While the academic and IT sectors have expressed hope for selecting a private expert as the control tower for national AI strategy establishment, there are also concerns regarding the feasibility of 'Sovereign AI.' There is already a significant gap with global big tech companies, and if resources are concentrated on developing national AI services, it may not yield substantial results.

According to the IT industry on the 18th, Ha has emphasized the need to focus limited national resources on corporations and institutions that can lead the development of 'Sovereign AI.' Sovereign AI refers to creating and operating independent AI using national or corporate infrastructure and data. The aim is to establish AI services that are highly usable in Korean and tailored to the culture, systems, and characteristics of Korea. There are concerns that 'the domestic AI market could become dependent on global big tech.' This strategy is gaining attention as a means to address that issue. President Lee is envisioning building a society that enables free use of generative AI through the 'Everyone's AI Project.'

◇ 14 domestic AI models, zero in the global top 50

There are 14 models that can be referred to as Sovereign AI domestically. According to the 'Global Ultra-Large AI Model Status Analysis' by the Software Policy Research Institute (SPRi), a subsidiary of the Korea Information and Communication Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), Korea had the third-largest number of its own AI models in the world as of last year. This is more than France (10) but significantly less than the United States (125) and China (95). A total of 271 AI models were released worldwide from 2020 to last year, with the U.S. and China accounting for 81.2%.

The 14 AI models were created by six corporations. LG Group developed five, while Naver and Samsung each developed three AI models to enhance work efficiency in their organizations or use them in business-to-business (B2B) solutions. KT, NCSOFT, and Konan Technology also operate one proprietary AI model each. An IT industry official analyzed, "Given the direction of 'enhanced AI competitiveness' that Ha has emphasized, there is a high likelihood that national support will be focused on companies that have developed their own models."

The problem is that these models are not translating into competitive business-to-consumer (B2C) AI services. None of Korea's homegrown models made it to the 'Top 50 Worldwide AI Service Usage' list published by U.S. venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) last March.

In the top 50 web-based AI services, SK Telecom's adot ranks 15th, while Liner comes in at 19th. Although these two corporations do not operate large-scale AI like LG, Samsung, or Naver, they have established optimized specialized services based on smaller proprietary models. Both SK Telecom and Liner have successfully enhanced the convenience of AI services and attracted users through broad partnerships with companies like Perplexity, OpenAI, and Google.

Andreeson Horowitz (a16z) announces the list of 'Top 50 Global Web-Based AI Services' in March./Courtesy of a16z

◇ “We should find opportunities in specialized areas rather than general AI services”

Experts advised that the Korean version of the 'Sovereign AI' development policy requires selection and concentration. Professor Kim Sang-kyun from the Graduate School of Business at Kyunghee University pointed out that the government's goal of distributing AI created by our corporations and institutions to the public lacks realism.

Services like ChatGPT and Perplexity have established themselves as AI services that can enhance efficiency in both daily life and the workplace. With the technology gap between our country and global companies already substantial, insisting on developing a nationwide AI service using proprietary technology could lead to missing 'growth opportunities through AI-driven industrial advancements.'

Professor Kim added, "It is necessary to approach Sovereign AI from a strategic resource perspective." He stated that it is advisable for government resources to be primarily allocated to build Sovereign AI in fields such as defense and security, where reliance on foreign AI models is not acceptable.

Professor Yoon Seok-bin from the Graduate School of AI and Software at Sogang University stated, "Korean specialized AI models should first receive support in areas where we currently have strengths, such as manufacturing and cultural industries, rather than in general services." He remarked, "Just investing 100 trillion won won't instantly yield AI services like ChatGPT," adding that 'to seize growth opportunities, we need to build Sovereign AI in fields where our country can possess competitiveness through selection and concentration.'

Yoon Hye-young, head of the AI Policy Promotion Division at Korea Information Engineering Services, stated, "Whether it's nationwide AI services or specialized AI for public, financial, or security sectors, securing data that aligns with 'Korean characteristics' should be prioritized to ensure usability."