The government will join hands with the global semiconductor corporations AMD to establish an "AI Center of Excellence" in Korea.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said on the 23rd (local time) that it met Lisa Su, AMD chair and chief executive officer (CEO), at the "AMD Advancing AI 2026" event held in San Francisco, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation for the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor ecosystem.
The MoU was signed to build a heterogeneous AI computing infrastructure that links AMD's central processing units (CPU) and graphics processing units (GPU) with domestically made AI Semiconductors (NPU), which have strengths in inference.
First, the two sides will push to build and demonstrate a heterogeneous AI computing infrastructure that connects AMD's CPUs and GPUs with domestically made NPUs. Through this, they will implement an integrated computing environment that efficiently combines and uses diverse computing resources to match the characteristics of each AI service, and foster an open AI computing ecosystem in which not only AI Semiconductor corporations but also related domestic corporations in memory, data processing units (DPU), Compute Express Link (CXL), networks, servers, and orchestration software participate together. Based on this, they plan to secure a practical reference model so that domestically made AI Semiconductors can participate in the global AI computing supply chain.
The two sides will also pursue research cooperation centered on the National AI Science Research Center (NAIS). AMD plans to provide high-performance computing resources such as CPUs and GPUs, AI software, and experts.
In particular, AMD will push to establish an AI Center of Excellence in Korea. The AI Center of Excellence will serve as a cooperation hub that, based on AMD's AI computing resources and software capabilities, supports technology cooperation among domestic corporations, universities, and research institutes, AI Semiconductor software development, computing technology validation, and joint research.
The two sides will also cooperate to foster top talent in AI. AMD will support education and research programs and computing resources based on an AI computing platform for major domestic universities and graduate schools, and will expand opportunities for domestic students, professors, and researchers to experience the latest AI technologies and the global development environment. In addition, they plan to pursue joint research and technology cooperation in next-generation AI fields such as physical AI, expanding the industry-academia-research cooperation base to secure future AI technology competitiveness.
Bae Kyung-hoon, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "Global AI competition is shifting toward heterogeneous computing that combines diverse computing resources such as CPUs, GPUs, and NPUs, and toward open ecosystems," adding, "By cooperating with AMD, we will enhance the competitiveness of the domestic AI Semiconductor ecosystem and create a new cooperation model that responds to changes in global AI computing infrastructure."
Su, the CEO, said, "Korea is a core strategic market for AMD, which has world-class competitiveness in semiconductors, AI, advanced research, and physical AI," adding, "AMD will actively support the Republic of Korea in building an open, heterogeneous AI infrastructure by combining high-performance computing technologies, open software capabilities, and global ecosystem partnerships in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and ICT." She continued, "This cooperation goes beyond simple hardware support and shows AMD's long-term commitment to contribute to Korea's AI innovation and economic growth through technology cooperation, talent cultivation, and close joint research and development."