The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has launched support for AI startups, including 57 trillion won for the innovative growth sectors such as AI and semiconductors.
On the 20th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the 'Measures for Expanding AI Utilization through AI Startup Development' at the third meeting of the National Artificial Intelligence Committee, chaired by Acting Minister Choi Sang-mok.
Recently, major advanced countries, including the United States, the European Union (EU), and France, have announced large-scale private investments in the AI sector worth hundreds of trillions of won. In this context, the Chinese startup DeepSeek has caused a market shock by developing AI models at the level of U.S. big tech through software and algorithm innovation. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced measures to foster AI startups and expand the utilization of AI in small and medium-sized enterprises to respond to these global changes.
Through this plan, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups aims to intensively nurture AI startups that develop and provide AI services and solutions, securing the world's top-level competitiveness in terms of service and utilization. It also set a goal to increase the utilization rate of AI among small and medium-sized enterprises from 24% last year to 50% by 2027 and to foster five global AI unicorns.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will support the strengthening of AI startups' capabilities by sector. It will foster AI service supply startups in fields such as manufacturing and finance by supporting the development of AI models through collaboration between corporations and create and expand new business models. It will also promote the establishment of a 'data generation lab' capable of generating and synthesizing data, designating 100 specialized manufacturing AI companies, and concentrating on supporting funding, personnel, and market expansion, with each corporation being eligible for loans or guarantees of up to 10 billion won.
Financial support will also be dramatically expanded. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will focus 57 trillion won of the total new liquidity supply (98 trillion won) for small and medium-sized enterprises in 2025 in innovative growth sectors such as AI and semiconductors, and it plans to establish and operate an AI fund worth about 30 trillion won, including government and private funds, by 2027.
In addition, more than 50% of the new budget for research and development (3.301 trillion won) will be invested in strategic technology sectors such as AI. The plan is to focus support on high-risk, high-reward research and development projects in AI, providing up to 10 billion won by combining R&D funding and private investment. The introduction of an AI specialized accelerator system will also support joint research with overseas institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), along with various forms of overseas expansion.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will also work to create demand markets for AI services developed by startups through open innovation. Utilizing public-private partnership innovation projects, large corporations and startups will collaborate to develop sector-specific AI services tailored to solve specific industry challenges, while successful cases from the Ministry's autonomous manufacturing leading projects will be spread through smart factory construction projects. Additionally, it will support education and consulting to enhance the awareness and understanding of AI utilization among small and medium-sized enterprises' management and employees.
Minister Oh Youngju said, 'We have entered an era where AI technology is applied to everyday products such as TVs, washing machines, and clocks. In this situation, all stakeholders, including the Ministry, startups, and small and medium-sized enterprises, must have a sense of crisis and prepare.' She added, 'We will take the shock given by the Chinese DeepSeek as an opportunity for a new leap and focus on nurturing representative AI startups that can excel in specialized AI service areas and strive to secure AI technology and market leadership.'