South Korea's Presidential Policy Advisor Kim Yong-bum confirmed on Monday that the South Korean government has reached an agreement with Alphabet to jointly establish an artificial intelligence campus in Seoul. This initiative aims to deepen collaboration between the tech giant and local Korean technology talent and startups.
Kim Yong-bam detailed that South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, in Seoul earlier that day. The country's Ministry of Science and ICT subsequently signed a memorandum of understanding with Alphabet regarding the AI campus project.
Key discussion points and project details include:
The Korean side requested that Alphabet dispatch at least ten core engineers from its U.S. headquarters to be stationed at the new AI campus. Hassabis indicated that the company would consider this proposal. This facility will be the first dedicated AI campus of its kind established by Alphabet globally. President Lee and Hassabis exchanged views on the future development of artificial intelligence and its societal impact. During the talks, President Lee emphasized the need to establish a basic income security system to address potential job displacement caused by the increasing adoption of AI technologies. Hassabis expressed his hope that, through this partnership, internship programs and diverse training initiatives at the campus would help cultivate the next generation of AI experts. DeepMind plans to strengthen cooperation with leading Korean corporations, including Samsung, SK Hynix, Hyundai Group's Boston Dynamics, and LG, and to launch new joint research and development projects. Hassabis commented that South Korea possesses a robust industrial foundation in core AI fields such as semiconductors and robotics, making it an excellent base for AI industry collaboration. Reflecting on historical ties, Hassabis mentioned the iconic match a decade ago between DeepMind's AlphaGo and Korean Go player Lee Sedol. He noted that this event marked the beginning of the modern AI era, significantly accelerated AI technology iteration, and paved the way for subsequent breakthroughs like the protein-folding research tool AlphaFold.
Comments