South Korea will hold its first international academic conference in the AI-for-science field, bringing together researchers and industry experts. The Ministry of Science and ICT will host AI4Sci Korea 2026 in Seoul from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1. About 600 participants from 19 countries will present about 220 papers. The programme includes 15 session tracks, keynote speeches and policy forums, along with special sessions and an AI hackathon.

South Korea\'s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute said it would challenge itself to develop a \"director-level AI scientist\" by 2035 that can autonomously carry out the full research cycle, from hypothesis setting to experiments, analysis and verification. It also unveiled an AI innovation strategy and plans to focus R&D capabilities on five areas including AI-native 6G and satellite communications, safe artificial general intelligence, immersive space media, physical AI, and public and industrial AI and digital transformation.