Seoul: South Korea has launched a national initiative to develop a domestic foundational artificial intelligence (AI) model, aiming to reduce dependence on foreign systems and compete with US and Chinese technologies, according to a CNBC report Friday. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that five consortia have been selected to build AI models using predominantly homegrown technology.

According to Anadolu Agency, telecom giant SK Telecom is leading one of the consortia, which includes chip startup Rebellions and video game firm Krafton. Other consortia are led by major South Korean firms, including LG and Naver. The government's goal is to strengthen domestic capacity across the AI stack, ranging from data centers and software to semiconductors.

Kim Taeyoon, who heads the foundation model office at SK Telecom, emphasized the importance of the initiative, stating, "Korea, at the national level, is focusing on ensuring that we lay the technical foundation to have competitiveness." The initiative will capitalize on South Korea's existing tech ecosystem, with SK Hynix manufacturing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips critical to Nvidia's AI processors and Samsung maintaining its status as a major global player in memory production.

SK Telecom plans to utilize its Titan supercomputer, powered by Nvidia GPUs, alongside a new AI data center being constructed with Amazon, to train its models. Rebellions, part of SK Telecom's consortium, is actively developing AI-specific chips to support this endeavor. Despite the focus on enhancing domestic capabilities, the consortia will continue using Nvidia's GPUs for training in the short term.

This project is part of Seoul's broader strategy to establish a near self-sufficient AI sector and position itself as a leader in next-generation technology.