The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources will ramp up interagency cooperation so that AI specialists and manufacturing companies can more easily take part in AX (AI transformation) projects.
The three ministries said on the 12th they will issue a consolidated notice on the 19th for the "2026 key AX projects," totaling 423 billion won, and hold a joint briefing for corporations.
The three ministries signed a business agreement in Oct. last year to spread AX across industries and agreed to jointly respond to expand AX in industry and manufacturing with the goal of becoming one of the top three AI powers. Until now, corporations had the inconvenience of having to check each ministry's project notice separately, but with this consolidated notice they can access key AX project information at once. The government expects this will significantly improve corporations' convenience in participating in projects.
In April, the government will also jointly announce regional AX projects across ministries, including "AX demonstration valley creation (R&D)" and "regional hub AX innovative technology development (R&D)," once appropriateness reviews are completed.
This notice includes projects promoted by each ministry to spread AX across industries, such as ▲ AI agents ▲ rapid commercialization support for AI application products ▲ industrial AI solution demonstration and diffusion ▲ AI integrated vouchers ▲ AI virtual convergence ▲ smart factories.
Starting this year, the three ministries will newly promote AI agent projects that leverage their respective strengths. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will support the development of multi-AI agent technologies focusing on small and midsize manufacturing specialty sectors such as food, beauty, and pharmaceuticals, and consumer-facing areas. The Ministry of Science and ICT will work to secure core agentic AI technologies in fields with high public interest and tangible impact for the public, such as medical ultrasound and counseling services. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) will develop and demonstrate AI agents to be applied to core tasks including production planning, supply chain management, and inventory operations, reflecting demand on manufacturing floors.
The three ministries will also newly launch this year the "rapid commercialization support for AI application products (AX-Sprint)" project to help AI-based products and services enter the market quickly.
They will also announce key industry and manufacturing AX projects together. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will issue a call for the smart factory project that supports AI tailored to business sites for small and midsize corporations. The Ministry of Science and ICT will run the "AI virtual convergence industry innovation project," which supports AI service development and demonstrations by combining AI with virtual convergence technologies, and the "AI voucher," which provides AI technologies, cloud, and data in voucher form. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) will continue this year, following last year's second supplementary budget, the "industrial AI solution demonstration and diffusion support" project, which applies industrial AI solutions directly to manufacturing sites so results can be felt.
On the 25th, the three ministries will also hold a joint project briefing at the Westin Chosun Seoul for corporations and related institutions.