The presidential National AI Strategy Committee has officially launched as the control tower overseeing pan-government AI policies. The committee held its first plenary meeting presided over by President Lee Jae Myung at Seoul Square in Jung-gu, Seoul on Sept. 8, and deliberated and resolved four agenda items, including one related to the National AI Computing Center project.
The proposed AI computing center is intended to build an AI highway, which is regarded as essential for achieving the Korean government’s AI G3 goal. Yet the project has been shunned by private companies due to poor business prospects. At its inaugural meeting, the National AI Strategy Committee has decided to modify the conditions of the project to increase incentives for private companies.
The committee decided to significantly increase the private sector’s share in the public-private joint corporation (SPC), the project entity, from 49% to 70% or more. Originally, private operators could not hold a majority stake and had to follow government decisions, but through this restructuring, they can now take the lead and pursue profitability. The obligation to introduce domestic AI semiconductors, which was also unfavorable to the private sector, and the call option that required mandatory purchase of public shares when the government wanted, were also removed. The SPC contribution from the private sector has also been changed from the existing 2 billion won regulation to allow them to determine it themselves. Policy financing has also been increased to support more than 2 trillion won in total. The Ministry of Science and ICT will start re-soliciting operators from today until Oct. 21, select an operator, and establish the SPC within the first half of next year.
The industry welcomes this measure but still feels burdened by entering the AI data center business and expects follow-up measures. An industry official said, “We believe the entry barrier will be lowered due to the project changes,” adding, “However, the burden on domestic operators who have to compete with big tech should be continuously reduced through institutional improvements such as easing data center regulations.”
The AI Strategy Committee also confirmed the “Direction for Enacting Subordinate Statutes of the AI Basic Law,” which introduces a grace period for fines for violating the AI Basic Law. This means that fines of up to 30 million won for violations will be postponed for a certain period. The grace period will be determined later through opinion gathering. The AI Basic Law, which will be implemented early next year, has raised concerns that it could become a comprehensive regulation as it contains sanction provisions for high-impact AI. In response, the industry has been demanding that the government quickly prepare subordinate statutes that specify high-impact AI along with a grace period to respond to regulations. The AI Strategy Committee plans to disclose the draft of the subordinate statutes this month and announce legislation early next month. A comprehensive AI policy, the ‘Republic of Korea AI Action Plan’, will also be established by November.
Im Moon-young, chairman of the Democratic Party’s Digital Special Committee, joined the AI Strategy Committee as vice-chairman, along with many experts from industry, academia, and research as private members. Eight division heads were appointed, including Cho Jun-hee, chairman of the Korea AI·Software Association, Oh Hye-yeon, professor of computer science at KAIST who serves as an outside director of SK Telecom, and Seok Cha-ok, professor of Chemistry at Seoul National University and CEO of Galux, an AI drug development company.
President Lee emphasized, “If we boldly move forward and lead the future, AI will modernize the constitution of the entire industry and become the key to leading the Republic of Korea into a new era of prosperity,” adding, “Our Republic of Korea stands at a huge historical inflection point of whether we will become a follower exposed to the risk of falling behind or a leader enjoying unlimited opportunities.”
출처 : Businesskorea(https://www.businesskorea.co.kr)