Korea proved its potential on global artificial intelligence (AI) indicators. By the number of notable AI models released last year, it ranked third worldwide, and by AI patents per capita, it topped the world for the second straight year.
On the 14th, the Ministry of Science and ICT said this, citing key evaluations from the "AI Index 2026" that the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) released on the 13th (local time).
According to the report, Korea ranked third worldwide (five) in the number of notable AI models released last year, following the United States (50) and China (30). Of the five models, four were from LG AI Research.
Korea rose one notch from fourth the previous year, surpassing major advanced countries such as Canada, France and the United Kingdom, which tied for fourth with one model each.
AI patents per 100,000 people came to 14.31, putting Korea at No. 1 worldwide for the second straight year, followed by Luxembourg (12.25), China (6.95) and the United States (4.68).
AI adoption rates in the first and second halves of last year also jumped from 25th to 18th, marking the biggest ranking increase globally. The number of industrial robots deployed settled at fourth worldwide (30,600 units).
On the legal and institutional front, Korea ranked second among the Group of 20 (G20) by passing 17 AI-related bills from 2016 to 2025.
The report in particular introduced Korea's "AI Basic Act" as a leading example that established a basis at the national level for fostering the AI industry and building a trust framework. Korea's share of AI-related innovation to regulation was assessed at 7 to 3.
In addition, Korea's SK hynix and Samsung Electronics were highlighted alongside Micron of the United States as global leading corporations in high bandwidth memory (HBM) manufacturing.
However, relatively weak private-sector investment in AI compared with leading countries and a larger outflow than inflow of AI talent were cited as areas needing improvement.
Bae Kyung-hoon, vice minister, said, "Comprehensive national support to strengthen AI competitiveness, including building an AI highway, securing proprietary AI models and spreading AX, is bearing fruit," and added, "We will further bolster the government's policy support to establish Korea as one of the top three AI powers and do our utmost so that all people can enjoy the benefits of AI in daily life."