Seoul: South Korea will acquire 18,000 high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) by the first half of next year to enhance the country's artificial intelligence (AI) computing capabilities, the science ministry said Thursday. The government aims to secure 10,000 GPUs within this year for the launch of a new national AI computing center in 2027, the Ministry of Science and ICT stated in a press release.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the government will separately secure 8,000 GPUs by June next year to establish the country's sixth supercomputer. This initiative is intended to rapidly develop the country's AI infrastructure and position it as one of the top three global powers in the field.
To further support the establishment of the state AI center, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) will provide low-rate policy loans, amounting to up to 2.5 trillion won (US$1.7 billion), to private companies participating in the construction project, a ministry official noted. While the AI center is slated to open in 2027, the government plans to commence service this year to support local businesses and researchers promptly.
The government also aims to increase the use of domestically produced semiconductors in the upcoming AI center to 50 percent by 2030. GPUs are essential in AI, offering high performance for AI training and inference, and they deliver significant benefits in applications that require accelerated computing.