South Korea announced on Monday its plan to acquire 10,000 high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) by the end of this year as part of its efforts to stay competitive in the global AI race.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok emphasized that the shift in the AI landscape is moving from corporate competition to a national rivalry in innovation ecosystems.
The government aims to secure these GPUs through public-private cooperation to support the early launch of services at its national AI computing centre. The move comes as global competition for AI dominance intensifies, with countries vying for access to advanced AI chips and technology.
Last month, the U.S. introduced new regulations restricting the export of GPUs required for cutting-edge AI applications.
South Korea is one of 18 countries exempt from the export restrictions, which target nations like China, Iran, and Russia. The South Korean government has not yet decided on which GPU models to purchase, but details on the budget and participating companies will be finalized by September, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Nvidia, a leading U.S. chip designer, holds a dominant 80% share of the global GPU market, followed by competitors Intel and AMD. Meanwhile, Microsoft-backed OpenAI, creator of the popular ChatGPT, is working on reducing its reliance on Nvidia by developing its own in-house AI chips, with plans to begin fabrication at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in the coming months.
