The South Korean government will spend 1 trillion won ($778.27 million) over the next five years to foster the artificial intelligence (AI) chip industry as the country’s mainstay growth engine on expectations that demand for AI chips will take up 33 percent of the overall system chip demand by 2030, Lee Jong-ho, the Minister of Science and ICT, announced on Monday.

AI semiconductors are expected to play a more vital role in the era of digital transformation, said Lee, adding that it is important for Korea to take the lead in the AI chip market to enhance the competitiveness of Korea’s overall system chip sector.

Part of the bold investment will be used to groom about 7,000 AI chip experts by opening new AI chip university programs and sponsoring overseas internships.

Korea will launch AI semiconductor convergence majors at local universities where undergraduates can learn about semiconductor design and manufacturing technologies. Three AI semiconductor graduate schools will be established next year where exemplary master’s and doctorate students will be selected to study abroad for a short period as part of efforts to foster experts in the semiconductor research.

The Korean government will also expand the scope of AI research with a 1-billion won joint research that will be conducted with the United States this year.

By Lee Jae-chul and Susan Lee

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