The government will support the two final teams in its homegrown AI foundation model project, known as Dokpamo, through 2027 as originally planned, while separately pushing ahead with a frontier AI development project. The frontier AI project aims to launch a new tender as early as December and start model development in March next year.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said it would move in that direction at a meeting with reporters on Oct. 2 at the National Information Society Agency's Seoul office in central Seoul, and through additional explanations afterward.

Dokpamo to run as planned through 2027... expanding use in industry and research

The third round of Dokpamo, involving three elite teams including LG AI Research, SK Telecom and Upstage, runs through the end of January next year. After an evaluation, the ministry will select the final two teams in February and keep the originally planned fourth round and GPU support unchanged.

Alongside its existing development support, the government is also reviewing additional measures to broaden Dokpamo's use in industry and research settings. The GPUs the government can operate next year amount to about 29,000 units when converted on the basis of Nvidia's B200, and the ministry plans to draw up an overall allocation plan by year-end after consolidating demand across relevant ministries and industry, academia and research.

Separate support for personnel related to the domestic model will also continue. The government will also pursue a plan to open 일부 of the data it secured through government support for use in industry and research settings.

Frontier AI to be newly set up separately... reviewing multiple investment structures such as an SPC

Frontier AI will be pursued as a separate new project, not as a successor programme replacing Dokpamo. The goal is to secure AI technology at the world's top level.

The project structure will also differ from Dokpamo. Unlike Dokpamo, where the government has supported GPUs and data and narrowed down elite teams through phased evaluations, frontier AI will be pursued as an investment-type structure aimed at drawing large-scale private investment, with government investment serving as seed capital.

According to the government, multiple project structures are under review, including a special purpose company (SPC). It has not yet been decided which company will serve as an anchor, how multiple companies would participate, or how to design operator selection and investment methods.

Ryu Je-myung (류제명), second vice minister at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said at the meeting, "With support at the level of 1,000 GPUs each, it is hard to catch up (with top-tier models)," adding, "The government should invest about 5 trillion won, with matching private investment, to make the investment scale a completely different dimension."

Opportunities to take part in the frontier project will not be limited to existing Dokpamo elite teams. The government plans to open participation so that companies or startups that did not take part in Dokpamo can join the tender if they have the technology and talent. It is also reviewing the possibility of providing incentives to the final two Dokpamo teams, considering their competitive performance so far and policy trust.

5.2 trillion won for frontier-level domestic AI model... securing 10,000 GPUs

The government allocated 5.2 trillion won in its proposed 2027 budget to develop a frontier-level domestic AI model. The funds are aimed at concentrating support for computing resources, training data and global talent needed to develop top-tier models.

The largest share is for securing GPUs. The ministry plans to invest 3.85 trillion won to secure about 10,000 units of Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin-class GPUs. In the early stage of model development, it will also use GPUs the government has already secured and privately leased resources from industry, academia and research.

A budget of 800 billion won was allocated to strengthen AI data competitiveness. According to the 2027 budget and fund management plan project briefing materials released by the office of Kim Sun-min (김선민), a lawmaker from the Rebuilding Korea Party, 750 billion won of that will be used to support frontier-level AI data. The government will invest in the Korea Development Bank, and the bank will invest in domestic AI companies. The remaining 50 billion won will be used to build a training foundation for cybersecurity AI.

The government will also support efforts to secure talent needed to develop frontier-level models, including attracting top AI researchers from overseas.

The tender for the frontier project will begin as soon as parliament finalises the 2027 budget. The government is preparing to start the tender immediately after budget approval in December. It aims to select an operator in February and begin model development in March, or as early as possible. It will later finalise and disclose details such as the project structure, participation and selection methods, investment terms between the government and the private sector, and performance targets for the frontier model.