South Korea Announces 4.7 Trillion Won Program for Frontier AI Model Development

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT has announced a 4.7 trillion won (about 23.3 billion yuan) initiative to develop frontier artificial intelligence models, with work expected to begin in March 2027.

According to Reuters, the government will select a lead developer through competitive bidding after the National Assembly reviews the 2027 budget in December 2026. The winner could be confirmed as early as February 2027. The plan combines state equity investment with private capital, concentrating computing chips, data, and talent to build AI models with world-leading performance.

The new program is separate from the country's existing foundation model development projects, which will continue and pick two final teams in a third-stage review in February 2027. Applications are open to individual companies, consortia, and special purpose entities. The government hopes startups, large firms, universities, and researchers can all play leading roles in the project.