South Korea's science ministry plans to invest 4.7 trillion won ($3.49 billion) in a project to develop a homegrown artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of matching global frontier models, government officials said Tuesday.

To finance the effort, the ministry intends to establish an independent fund, according to the officials. The allocation will form part of the 9.4 trillion-won AI budget the ministry has proposed in its 2027 budget request.

Exact details of the project have yet to be decided, a science ministry official said.

The initiative comes amid growing calls for increased government support in developing a domestic frontier AI model, as the global race to build highly advanced AI intensifies, driven by massive capital investments and unprecedented improvements in reasoning capabilities. Frontier models refer to the most capable AI systems currently available, typically large language models developed by major technology firms that push the boundaries of what AI can achieve. South Korea is home to major AI and semiconductor players — including Naver, which has developed its own HyperCLOVA line of Korean-focused language models, and Samsung Electronics, a leading producer of AI chips and memory — but the country has lacked a government-backed effort aimed squarely at the frontier tier dominated by U.S. and Chinese firms.

Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon has stressed the importance of creating a sovereign frontier model to prevent South Korea from becoming subordinate to other nations, particularly at a time of intensifying geopolitical competition between the United States and China. Sovereign AI — the development of AI capabilities under a nation's own control — has become an increasingly prominent policy priority for governments worldwide seeking to secure technological independence in data, infrastructure, and models.

With the project's specifics still undecided, observers are likely to watch how the independent fund is structured, which companies and research institutions participate, and how the effort fits within the broader 9.4 trillion-won AI budget as it moves through the 2027 budget process.

(Yonhap, via Korea Herald)