Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) and the Korea Fabless Industry Association (KFIA) signed an agreement to strengthen global competitiveness in the AI semiconductor industry. The partnership aims to build an end-to-end ecosystem spanning design, fabrication and packaging, and verification. KFIA will provide field-based data and help shape demand-driven education and research, while GIST will support shared verification environments and high-difficulty R&D. The partners plan joint R&D, training programmes and government-linked projects, targeting results from the second half of 2026.