The Ministry of Science and ICT decided to extend the evaluation period for AI models by consortia participating in the independent artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model selection project beyond the original plan, running it through today. However, it said the overall selection schedule, including the announcement of consortia eliminated in the first round, will proceed as planned.
According to the industry on the 11th, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) asked the five consortia participating in the independent AI model project to extend until midnight today the operation of the AI model disclosure sites that the evaluation panel can access to review. This increases the operating period by about 54 hours from the original deadline of 6 p.m. on the 9th.
The agency said the step was taken at the request of the Ministry of Science and ICT. The ministry drew a line, saying the recent controversy over the independent technological capabilities of some consortia and this extension of the evaluation period are not directly related.
The Ministry of Science and ICT also denied speculation that, with the evaluation period extended, the announcement of consortia eliminated in the first round of the independent AI model selection project, scheduled around the 15th, could be delayed.
A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "The selection plan will proceed according to the original schedule," and noted, "We extended the operation period of the evaluation sites to evaluate the AI models more rigorously."