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South Korea Launches 'K‑NVIDIA' Drive With 50 Trillion‑Won AI and Chip Pledge, Plus 750 Billion for Product Commercialization

The push targets NPU development through the National Growth Fund to cultivate domestic AI chips.

Overview

  • Officials confirmed a five‑year, 50 trillion‑won allocation for AI and semiconductors, with 10 trillion won to be invested this year via the National Growth Fund.
  • The National Growth Fund aims to mobilize at least 150 trillion won over five years, with reported plans to steer about 30 trillion to AI and 21 trillion to semiconductors.
  • Policymakers highlighted a shift toward NPUs optimized for inference to overcome GPUs’ high energy use and costs and to build globally competitive local chipmakers.
  • A separate 750 billion‑won program will accelerate the launch of 246 AI products and services over the next two years under a consultative body spanning 11 ministries.
  • The commercialization budget allocates 613.5 billion won this year and 140.5 billion won next year, representing the largest single program in the 2.4 trillion‑won AI transformation budget.