Sovereign AI race continues with three finalists in South Korea

Major players exit South Korea’s AI contest as the government enforces strict rules, leaving a smaller field and raising stakes for the remaining teams.
South Korea advances its sovereign AI model project while eliminating major players over strict independence rules, raising questions about industry participation and the future of homegrown AI development.

South Korea has narrowed its race to develop a sovereign AI model, eliminating Naver and NCSoft from the government-backed competition. LG AI Research, SK Telecom, and Upstage now advance toward final selection by 2027.

The Ministry of Science and ICT emphasised that independent AI must be trained from scratch with initialised weights. Models reusing pre-trained results, even open source, do not meet this standard.

A wild-card round allows previously eliminated teams to re-enter the competition. Despite this option, major companies have declined, citing unclear benefits and high resource demands.

Industry observers warn that reduced participation could slow momentum for South Korea’s AI ambitions. The outcome is expected to shape the country’s approach to homegrown AI and technological independence.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech, and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!