Deputy Prime Minister and Science and ICT Minister Baek Kyung-hoon (배경훈) said a 4.7 trillion won "frontier AI" project is not being pursued on a presidential order.

Baek gave the answer on Oct. 23 at a comprehensive parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, in response to a question from lawmaker Park Jung-ha about how the frontier AI project was 추진.

Baek said discussions to push the project took place as the need to secure frontier AI grew after the emergence of the high-performance model "Mythos" by U.S. company Anthropic. He said the first time the project was formally reported to the president was at a National Fiscal Strategy Meeting in July. "It is not a presidential instruction," Baek said. "I did not hear the president's reaction directly," he said.

Baek said the ministry initially reviewed a plan to have the elite team of the independent AI foundation model project develop frontier AI. Concerns were raised, however, that if the project was carried out as an extension of an existing graphics processing unit support programme, benefits could be concentrated in a specific company.

"At first we planned a plan to have the two companies selected after the third evaluation of the independent AI foundation model project develop frontier AI," Baek said. "There were concerns it would be seen as favouring a specific company if GPU support increased from 1,000 units to 10,000 units," he said.

Baek said the ministry changed the support scheme, initially conceived as a government-funded project, into an equity investment project after consultations with fiscal authorities. The ministry's budget proposal for next year includes 4.7 trillion won for the frontier AI project. He said the independent AI foundation model project targets models with about 300 billion to 1 trillion parameters, while the frontier AI project plans models with 2 trillion or more parameters.

He also explained a dispute over the submission of 자료 on the project's 추진 process. Park had earlier demanded meeting documents and minutes on the frontier AI project, which is being 추진 through government investment, but said the ministry's submission was insufficient.

"We held discussions several times, but in some cases meeting records remain and in others they do not," Baek said. "We submitted to the lawmaker's office the recorded materials and the materials discussed with companies participating in the independent AI foundation model project and with experts," he said.

The project’s specific investment structure and plans to operate a special purpose company (SPC) have not yet been finalised.

"To ensure the frontier AI project succeeds, we will derive the best approach and consult with the lawmaker's office as well," Baek said.