The National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) is stepping up efforts this year to expand the national AI infrastructure. It will 추진 92 support projects worth 3 trillion won in total. It will also open an additional call this month for 1 elite team for an "independent AI foundation model."

NIPA held a 2026 integrated project briefing on Jan. 21 at the EL Tower in Yangjae. As a range of models, including agentic AI and physical AI, shape the AI ecosystem, NIPA said it aims to contribute to strengthening national competitiveness.

After securing 13,000 advanced GPUs last year, it will add another 15,000 this year. GPUs allocated for government use will begin full-scale supply from February to meet demand from industry, academia and research. To develop industry- and sector-specific AI foundation models, it will support a total of 4 tasks with 256 GPUs each.

It will also support the establishment of a special-purpose company (SPC) to build and operate the National AI Computing Center and back the start of construction. If the SPC is established by June this year, the centre will begin full-scale construction in the second half. A NIPA official said, "We plan to immediately begin follow-up support after financial reviews by the Korea Development Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea."

NIPA will support operation of the government's "independent AI foundation model" project. After a first round of screening, 3 consortia were selected initially, and NIPA will hold an additional call this month for 1 more consortium.

It will invest 1 trillion won each in North Jeolla Province and South Gyeongsang Province to build a Korean-type AI factory leading model based on physical AI by 2030. It will also 추진 projects to develop and demonstrate AI agent services and to support commercialisation of device-based AI application products and services.

It will launch this year, for the first time, a project to build an open-source ecosystem to promote the use of open-source software in the public and private sectors. It will also newly introduce the "AI Champion" and "AI Utilisation Rookie" programmes to support creative competition by challenging AI talent.

It will build the "Asia-Pacific AI Hub (AHAP)" as a global AI hub. It will also 추진 in earnest the "K-Tech Pioneers" programme to support the attraction to Korea of AI and advanced-technology talent and companies working overseas. In addition, it will support participation in the U.S. finals of the Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), the world's largest startup competition, including teams such as the winner of the domestic K-Digital Grand Championship.

For the public AI transformation (AX) project, it plans to significantly expand budgets and tasks to support the rapid introduction of AI innovation services in areas with high public impact, including the 10 major projects for people's livelihoods and fields related to consumption and daily life and social safety.

It also said it will improve existing programme methods to strengthen the startup growth ladder, support promising domestic AI startups such as the winner of the K-Digital Grand Championship to participate in the U.S. finals of the Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), and create a foothold for global expansion through links with local investors.

Separately, NIPA said it will discover new evaluators in key industries such as AI, semiconductors, bio and venture capital (VC) to effectively execute its expanded 3 trillion won programme and produce tangible results. It will continue to improve the evaluator list and classification system.

It plans to move from technology-focused evaluations to a multi-dimensional evaluation system centred on "market, investment and growth." It will closely review the realism of business models based on market demand and measure the attractiveness of projects from the perspective of private investors.

NIPA President Yun-gyu Park (박윤규) said, "2026 will be the year of a true 'separating the wheat from the chaff,' when AI investment to date is proven through visible business results." He added, "We will serve as a solid growth ladder through support for a 'K-AI' full stack that combines advanced AI infrastructure with domestically developed AI models so our companies can secure leadership amid global competition."