On February 20, KAIST began a collaborative R&D venture, titled the AI One Team, with Korea Telecom (KT), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, and Hanyang University. This collaboration was formed with the purpose of helping domestic AI technology remain ahead on a global scale. The representatives of each participating body agreed to actively collaborate in fostering new talents and creating an ecosystem for the growth of AI. The alliance will focus mainly on four aspects regarding AI technology and its use in businesses. 

Firstly, KAIST, Hanyang University, and ETRI will collaborate to establish a platform for training talent. The main focus is to assist current businesses and students by providing GPU-based computing power, educational data, and on/offline educational programs that focus on areas such as practical use in businesses.

The AI One Team also plans to create a platform that connects the domestic supply and demand of AI talents to address the current brain drain issue. As an ongoing case, Meister vocational high schools, which focus on training talent with specializations in electronic, electrical, or mechanical engineering, will incorporate an AI-related education program for the first time this year. This program plans to include specialized courses for AI and new technologies, train teachers, recommend companies for field practice, arrange visits to labs in universities, and provide excellent students with masters or doctorate mentors for counseling regarding career paths.

Second, Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings will be managing an ecosystem, “AI+X”, that focuses on improving the efficiency of AI use in industries. It includes analysis of usage cases and distribution of information to current businesses for more efficient and practical use of AI.

The AI One Team will also be establishing an ecosystem that will encourage free participation from small and medium-sized businesses to share successful cases of the digital transformation of an industry with  AI, and provide solutions to various issues. If a business shares an issue regarding the use of AI, the newly-trained talent fostered through the program will work to provide a solution alongside industry or academia if necessary. AI-focused technology discovered by the participating institutes will be open-sourced and data will be accumulated and analyzed for practical use in businesses.

Lastly, a secretariat will be established and managed by KT for the rapid establishment and easier use of the previous agenda items. It will also facilitate the flow of information and thus act as a pipeline for the domestic AI industry’s growth.

President Sung-chul Shin emphasized the ‘winner takes all’ nature of AI technology, where being second or third is meaningless, and declared his full support for AI One Team in making Korea the number one AI country.