A South Korean government official stated on Wednesday that South Korea will invest 4 trillion won (approximately 2.86 billion USD) to establish a national AI computing center to enhance the country's competitiveness in this rapidly evolving technology sector.

According to officials from the South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology, this decision was made during a high-level meeting related to the economy to enhance the global competitiveness of local industries.

This initiative aims to ensure that advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), which play a key role in AI, are available to assist local businesses and researchers.

As of the end of 2023, South Korea possesses approximately 2,000 H100 GPUs developed by AI chip giant Nvidia, while global tech companies like Meta Platforms and Microsoft each own about 0.15 million.

Officials from the South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology stated that the government will begin purchasing GPUs before launching the envisioned national AI computing center to rapidly establish the country’s AI infrastructure.

The South Korean government also plans to establish a dedicated loan program for AI companies within the 14 trillion won policy financing aimed at providing low-interest loans to semiconductor manufacturing enterprises.