South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT moved to calm growing talk that the domestically developed AI foundation model project known as Dokpamo could be halted. Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said the project would continue and that the government should also challenge frontier AI. The ministry said nothing had been decided on halting Dokpamo or forming a special-purpose company. Industry figures said the boundary between Dokpamo and frontier AI remains unclear.

SK Telecom is accelerating upgrades to its proprietary foundation models, seeking to combine them with specialised knowledge from industrial sites such as manufacturing, semiconductors and batteries. At the Digital Insight 2026 conference in Seoul, an executive said models that can be controlled domestically help turn subtle field knowledge into assets and preserve choice over key AI technologies. The company is developing a suite centred on A.X K2 and prioritises evaluation, safety and practical usability over absolute performance contests.