The Ministry of Science and ICT officially announced the five elite teams leading the "Independent AI Foundation Model" project on August 4th. The selected teams—Naver Cloud, Upstage, SK Telecom, NC AI, and LG AI Research—will engage in a survival competition, starting with the first evaluation in December and lasting until 2027, with only two teams remaining.
This project goes beyond simple technological development and is a national strategy aimed at establishing a Korean-style AI ecosystem. The government is actively encouraging private sector participation by developing a comprehensive policy that includes KRW 1.4 trillion in GPU resource support, establishing a legal data usage system, and linking defense and public sectors.
Each team presented a distinct strategy. Naver Cloud will create an "AI Agent Marketplace" accessible to the entire nation and develop an Omni Foundation model. Startup Upstage will simultaneously target global niche markets and industry-specific AI with its highly efficient model, "Solar WBL." SK Telecom is pursuing a hybrid model with a full-stack strategy encompassing everything from semiconductors to services and a large-scale investment in GPU resources. NC AI will focus on building a multimodal model and a "DomainOps" platform to transform AI into an industry-focused solution. LG AI Research Center plans to develop "K-Exa1," a world-class platform based on existing Exa1 technology, and release it as open source.
These teams will have to demonstrate their technological prowess and vision over the next six months, and the government has stated that a key evaluation factor will be how they concretize the vague concept of "AI for all citizens." In this regard, a "National Contest" is also planned for the end of the year, allowing citizens to experience AI services firsthand.
Meanwhile, the elimination of KT and Kakao from this selection process shocked the industry. While both companies actively participated by disclosing their AI models and forming consortia, some analysts argue that their partnerships with foreign big tech companies did not align with the project's stated purpose of "Sovereign AI."
The government announced its plan to continue evaluating startups and large corporations solely based on "global competitiveness," without distinguishing between them. The evaluation criteria will be adjusted dynamically based on changing technological trends, using a "moving target" approach. Scores and evaluator information will remain confidential.
This project's core goal goes beyond simply developing a Korean AI model, but also aims to build the capacity to enter the global AI market. To achieve this, the government announced plans to strengthen follow-up support in areas such as data sovereignty, algorithm independence, and attracting high-caliber talent—key elements of sovereign AI.
