South Korea Focuses on AI

South Korea is rapidly climbing the global rankings in the artificial intelligence sector, supported by the Korean National Sovereign AI Initiative. This government-funded initiative aims to promote the development of AI models at the national level through a multi-stage competition.

Models and Key Players

Among the companies that have distinguished themselves in this competition are major names such as Naver, SK Telecom, LG Group, Upstage, and NC AI. Winners receive direct funding and guaranteed access to high-performance computing infrastructure, essential for training complex models.

Some of the most relevant Korean artificial intelligence models include:

  • LG K-EXAONE: A 236 billion parameter open-source model, leader in the Korean competition.
  • Upstage Solar Open: A 100 billion parameter open-source model, known for its accuracy in instruction following and a low hallucination rate.
  • Naver HyperCLOVA X SEED Think: A 32 billion parameter open-source model, specializing in reasoning and tool use.
  • Korea Telecom Mi:dm K 2.5 Pro: A proprietary model focused on integration with KT services.
  • Motif Motif-2-12.7B: A small open-source model, performing well in long-context reasoning.

Strategy and Prospects

The Korean strategy seems oriented towards the development of open-source models, with some exceptions such as the Korea Telecom model, intended for more specific and commercial use. The government initiative and competition among local companies are accelerating innovation and positioning South Korea as a key player in the global artificial intelligence landscape.