The government said nothing has been specifically decided regarding speculation that it will develop a standalone "Mythos"-class artificial intelligence (AI) model using excess tax revenues driven by semiconductors. It added there are no plans yet for a supplementary budget or for securing graphics processing units (GPUs).
According to government authorities on the 2nd, the Ministry of Science and ICT has recently discussed a direction for developing a frontier-class standalone AI model as the "Mythos" incident intensified the global race for AI dominance among countries. An official at the Ministry of Science and ICT said it is true the ministry has conducted a comprehensive review of the direction of the existing standalone foundation model (Dokpamo) project as frontier-class AI models become national strategic assets, but nothing has been specifically decided and the discussions are at an early stage.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Planning and Budget issued an explanatory document that day, saying a supplementary budget has not been considered at all, and that it is untrue and undecided whether to pursue the development of a frontier-class AI model by securing GPUs.
In the background is a measure on the 12th of last month by the U.S. administration, which completely blocked foreign nationals' access to Anthropic's top-tier AI models "Mythos 5" and "Fable 5" for national security reasons. The two models were then abruptly suspended worldwide, and service resumed on the 1st after export controls were lifted. As it was effectively the first time the United States designated an AI model itself as a target of export control, assessments say a trend has begun in earnest to treat AI models as controlled items akin to strategic weapons.
Industry voices say the existing Dokpamo project alone makes it hard to narrow the gap with global frontier models. They note that under the current approach of dispersing resources across multiple teams, it is difficult to secure the scale of resources needed to develop a frontier-class model.
Since last year, the Ministry of Science and ICT has supported the development of AI models by dividing and providing GPUs to four teams—LG AI Research Institute, SK Telecom, Upstage, and Motif Technologies—through the Dokpamo project.
Changes made: The headline was contrasted as "Direction discussions vs. drawing a line on an extra budget" to remove contradictions; remarks by officials were compressed into narrative form without quotation marks; and the number of paragraphs was reduced for a more concise summary.