The ‘Independent AI Foundation Model’ project promotion direction. /Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICT

President Lee Jae-myung's plan for 'independent artificial intelligence (AI) construction' has been specified.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 20th that it will begin a recruitment process for a domestic elite team to participate in the 'Independent AI Foundation Model' project in collaboration with the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), the National Information Society Agency (NIA), and the Institute of Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP).

President Lee is envisioning the establishment of a basic society for AI that allows free use of generative AI through the 'Everyone's AI Project.' On the 15th, he appointed Ha Jung-woo, the former head of Naver Cloud, as his first AI Future Planning Chief. President Lee has committed to launching the '100 trillion won' era of AI investment as part of his election pledge, and he has chosen Chief Ha as a key aide to realize this vision.

In line with this, the Ministry of Science and ICT plans to officially name the project previously referred to as the 'World Best Large Language Model' (WBL) as 'Independent AI Foundation Model' and expedite its progress. A representative from the ministry noted, 'Globally, competition for AI supremacy is intensifying beyond single corporations, and the importance of securing an independent AI foundation model with global competitiveness is continuously rising.'

'If the Independent AI Foundation Model is disseminated as open source in the country, it will accelerate the launch of various AI services and the overall AI transition in the socio-economy,' they stated, adding that it is expected to serve as a foundation for the social benefits arising from technological advances in AI.

◇ Selecting 5 elite teams to 'compress competition'... Necessary resources will be supported by the government

The Independent AI Foundation Model project elite team (consortiums possible) will initially select 5 teams and plan to compress competition through stage evaluations. Participation by undergraduate and graduate students is a mandatory registration condition. The Ministry of Science and ICT is forming an evaluation committee involving domestic and international AI experts to verify the performance of the AI models.

Through this initiative, the Ministry of Science and ICT aims to establish an independent AI model with performance exceeding 95% compared to the latest global AI models released within 6 months. The selected elite teams can proactively propose specific development strategies and methodologies. Goals and methodologies will be subjected to a moving target approach at each stage evaluation to flexibly respond to the rapidly changing AI technology environment.

The elite teams may freely propose necessary graphic processing units (GPUs), data, and talents needed for the development of the Independent AI Foundation Model. For GPUs, support will be provided by leasing GPUs held by the private sector from this year until the first half of next year. After that, support will be provided using government-purchased units (10,000 advanced GPUs). Starting with 500 GPUs per team, support is planned to increase to over 1,000 GPUs following stage evaluations.

Data will be supported for joint purchasing of copyrighted data for all elite teams, as well as the construction and processing of data for individual elite teams. Joint purchasing of data per team is planned to support an annual budget of 10 billion won, while data construction and processing will be supported with an annual budget ranging from 3 billion won to 5 billion won.

If an elite team proactively attracts outstanding researchers from abroad, the government will match expenses such as labor costs and research costs at an annual scale of 2 billion won. Talent support is planned to continue until 2027, irrespective of the compression of elite teams, for continuity.

The developed Independent AI Foundation Model aims to be open source. A representative from the Ministry of Science and ICT stated, 'The plan is to enhance the accessibility of AI to the public and support the AI transition in public, economic, and social sectors,' adding that the government will also actively support its dissemination as needed.

Song Sang-hoon, the Director of the Information and Communication Policy Office of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, 'This project aims to secure technological sovereignty for Korea in the AI era, beyond merely developing an independent AI foundation model, creating an ecosystem that promotes growth for all. I expect that elite teams of the highest caliber in Korea will challenge to secure and disseminate an independent AI foundation model at a global level, serving as a starting point for Korea to leap forward as an AI powerhouse with 'Everyone's AI.'