On the 19th, Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy and Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol said, "With the 15 leading projects for the AI grand transition, we will provide a package of support to the corporations that know the market best, including budget, tax, finance, and regulatory easing."
Koo said this at the "AI grand transition relay on-site roundtable" held at the KAIST AI Factory Lab in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon on the 19th, noting, "Innovation in AI-based manufacturing processes is an essential strategy for survival."
On 22nd, the government announced 15 leading projects for the AI grand transition through the "new government economic growth strategy." This roundtable was the second, following the "K-content sector" on 18th, and focused on the "AI factory sector." POSCO, LG Electronics, GS Caltex, Hyundai Motor, Google Cloud, and other corporations, academia, and related ministries attended the event.
Koo said, "We will transform Korea's manufacturing from A to Z by building and spreading AI factories across the manufacturing sector," adding, "By combining world-class manufacturing capabilities with AI technology, we can lead the world." The plan is that the spread of AI adoption will enable higher productivity, responses to customized consumer demand, carbon reduction, and workplace safety.
The corporations attending the roundtable shared cases of improving productivity through the use of AI. Notably, POSCO introduced a case in which it used AI to calculate the optimal proportions of ironmaking inputs of fuel and raw materials, and increased productivity by introducing an AI smart blast furnace. The corporations also proposed expanding support for research and development (R&D) and demonstrations.
The government has set a goal of raising the AI adoption rate among manufacturing corporations, currently under 5%, to 40% by 2030. To that end, it will expand the number of leading AI factory project plants to 500 by 2030 (26 in 2024), and support a dedicated insurance product worth up to 10 trillion won and loans totaling 200 billion won. The budget for building smart factories will also increase by nearly 85%, from 236.1 billion won this year to 436.6 billion won in 2026, and tax benefits will be strengthened, including the introduction of accelerated depreciation (up to 50%) for tangible assets used in smart factory projects by small and midsize corporations.
It will also push for the development of core technologies such as AI factory-specialized models and software platforms and an ultra-precise large action model (LAM), and move to preempt global standards.
Young researchers from KAIST also attended this roundtable in recognition of "Youth Week." They said, "The wave of innovation begins at research sites," and requested support for an environment where they can study AI freely. The government said it will increase AI/AX graduate schools from 19 to 24 and expand leading research projects in generative AI to 13 (from 5), training 11,000 advanced talents.
A government official said, "We will carefully review the various opinions raised at the roundtable and actively reflect them in future policy-making and institutional improvements," adding, "We will continue on-site roundtables for each AI grand transition leading project and prepare detailed support measures by field."