South Korea’s AI G3 Strategy: Decoded
aiinsider ·
South Korea has launched an ambitious AI G3 Strategy aimed at ranking among the world's top three AI powers alongside the United States and China. Since mid-2025, the government has rapidly established a presidential AI secretariat and passed the world’s first comprehensive AI law, known as the AI Basic Act, which took effect in January 2026. This legislation adopts an innovation-first approach while imposing strict transparency and safety requirements on high-impact AI systems. To support these goals, Seoul committed approximately $74 billion through public-private funds to expand compute infrastructure and secure tens of thousands of GPUs. A key component of the strategy is the Sovereign AI Foundation Model contest, which seeks to develop domestic large language models independent of foreign technology. In May 2026, South Korea formally merged its civilian and defense AI strategies under a single framework to create a unified national ecosystem. Despite these aggressive moves, industry participants have expressed concerns regarding vague enforcement guidelines and jurisdictional overlaps. The success of this coordinated sprint depends on whether regulatory and infrastructure developments can mature quickly enough to match the government's rapid ambitions.
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