South Korea has officially launched its National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Lab in Seoul to become one of the top three global leaders in AI technology. This initiative is part of a strategy backed by the Ministry of Science and ICT, which has committed to investing 94.6 billion won (approximately $68.2 million) by 2028.
The lab will focus on leading joint AI research projects with international partners, nurturing AI talent, and developing an interconnected ecosystem within the AI industry.
This national research facility aims to drive AI innovations across various sectors by leveraging open government data. For instance, private-sector applications like TTCare, potentially the world’s first mobile app for analyzing symptoms of eye and skin diseases in pets, exemplify how accessible data can fuel technological advancements in artificial intelligence.
TTCare’s CEO, Heo, highlighted the critical role of government-supplied data in enhancing the model’s diagnostic capabilities. The training data is freely accessible via AI Hub, allowing Korean citizens to download or utilize it. This emphasis on open data has positioned South Korea at the forefront of the OURdata Index, which ranks countries based on the availability of open, useful, and reusable data. As interest from public sector agencies grows regarding the use of open data for training AI models, the innovation potential continues to expand.
The National AI Research Lab will facilitate collaborative research among scientists from South Korea, the United States, Canada, France, and other nations. It will focus on various projects, such as neural scaling laws and foundational robot models. Science Minister Yoo said that the successful establishment and operation of the lab is seen as a pivotal milestone for the country’s AI development.
Earlier this year, the government established a presidential AI committee and a joint research lab in partnership with New York University to further strengthen its capabilities in the sector. The government is also set to launch an AI safety research institute next month to promote the secure development and application of AI technologies.
As of this year, South Korea’s open data portal features 87,000 public data sets and 11,000 open APIs, facilitating 61 million use cases that leverage these APIs. Baek, a principal manager at the National Information Society Agency, emphasized the significance of a strong legal framework guiding open data policy implementation.
He noted the government’s open data strategy council, co-chaired by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and a private sector data expert, which oversees the coordination and evaluation of these initiatives.
Prime Minister Han has stressed the urgency of enacting an AI Act to establish a supportive legal framework for the AI industry while ensuring safe technology usage. He assured that the government would invest significantly in research, infrastructure, and professional development in the AI sector. This initiative is complemented by establishing a presidential AI committee and a joint research lab in collaboration with New York University, alongside plans to launch an AI safety research institute to foster secure AI advancements.
