National AI complex project starts in South Korea: New AI hub in making

South Korea will be getting its first-ever National AI Industrial Convergence Complex, which is expected to be completed by 2024. According to a Yonhap report, the Korean government has invested $330 million in the AI infrastructure project in the southwestern city, Gwangju. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday to give a head start to the project. 

As the project gets completed in 2024, it aims to support upcoming startups and commercial AI plans emerging in the tech ecosystem. Also, it will be providing a data center and office space to more than 70 Korean AI startups. 

President Moon Jae-in had announced the investment in the complex in Feb this year. “As the AI-based core infrastructure of the Republic of Korea, Gwangju’s AI industrial convergence complex is expected to become a forward base, helping the Republic of Korea leap beyond the information and communications powerhouse in the post-Covid-19 era into an AI powerhouse,” he stated at the launching ceremony. 

The new AI Complex is set up in a strategic location that will be aligned to other AI centers in the city, such as AI Convergence College of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju AI Academy, and the AI Graduate School. In Gwangju, the complex will share the space with Korean tech giants such as Samsung Electronics, Kia Motors, and LG Innotek. With this, the city is likely to emerge as the AI hub of South Korea. 

The National AI complex will be built on a land of 46200 ㎡ with a building area of 24,820 ㎡. Additionally, it will have infrastructure built for AI-focused ventures such as managing data and research in advanced technology. 

Along with offering space for tech startups and commercial AI enterprises, it will also support artificial intelligence education. With this, Korea will bring together technology, manpower, and commercial spaces and encourage sustainable tech growth in the country. 

According to the report, the complex maps have a National AI data center, which will be the world’s 10th-class data center with a computations capacity of 88.5 PF and a storage space of 107 PB. Besides, the project will create an AI investment fund that is apparently worth KRW 109.8 billion. 

In a nutshell, the National AI complex aims to curate a small ecosystem and set a bar before the other Korean tech companies.