South Korea’s capital has opened a major anchor facility meant to serve as a control tower and nexus for its artificial intelligence industry. (Image courtesy of Seoul city)
SEOUL, May 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s capital has opened a major anchor facility meant to serve as a control tower and nexus for its artificial intelligence industry, Seoul Metropolitan Government officials announced on May 29.
The newly unveiled facility is located in the Umyeon-dong neighborhood of Seoul’s Seocho district. It will act as a central point tying together various A.I. support facilities scattered around the Yangje and Umyeon-dong areas, fostering collaboration between academia, research institutes and companies in the A.I. ecosystem.
With the launch of the new facility, the scale of Seoul’s A.I. Hub initiative established in 2017 has expanded to five sites spanning over 302,000 square feet.
In addition to the anchor facility, the A.I. Hub encompasses three private rental spaces providing offices for startups, as well as an education center running A.I. talent development programs.
The seven-story anchor facility itself, with a total area of over 107,000 square feet, houses open lounges and collaboration spaces on each floor along with educational spaces, conference rooms and offices for companies.
Notably, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Graduate School of A.I. will be relocating to occupy the fifth to seventh floors, with aims to directly supply talented personnel to Hub startups facing hiring challenges.
The KAIST faculty are also expected to offer employee training programs and pursue joint industry-academic research projects with companies at the Hub.
Additionally, an open innovation program will connect the Hub’s startups with the R&D center of South Korea’s Air Force to facilitate technological cooperation in the defense sector. Promising startups may get opportunities to participate in Air Force R&D initiatives and use military facilities as testbeds.
Under the lead of Seoul National University’s A.I. Research Institute, which operates the Hub, an A.I. Global Research Cooperation Center is being established to provide a space for domestic and foreign researchers to collaborate. Starting in the second half of this year, the center plans to host seminars by inviting renowned researchers from overseas institutes.
The anchor facility has prepared four spaces for growth-stage company offices, three of which have already been filled through an open application process. The remaining space will be assigned through another public offering.
The opening ceremony was attended by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Seoul National University President Ryu Hong Lim, heads of major research institutes like KAIST and ETRI, as well as Air Force Chief of Staff Lee Young-soo and representatives from industry partners such as Nvidia Korea.
“A.I. technology is transforming our lives in innovative ways today,” stated Oh. “We will spare no effort and capabilities to make Seoul the most attractive city harnessing the power of A.I.”
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
