The government is stepping up cooperation with global big tech firms to implement its K-Moonshot strategy aimed at strengthening artificial intelligence-based science and technology competitiveness.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said on Wednesday that the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) signed 3 memorandums of understanding at GTC 2026 in San Jose, the United States, with Nvidia, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and IonQ.

The cooperation aims to build a global collaboration ecosystem in AI, high-performance computing (HPC) and quantum computing, centered on KISTI's planned sixth national supercomputer, Hangang, to be built in the second half of this year, and IonQ's quantum computer, Tempo. The ministry said it is meaningful in building a base for technical cooperation with global AI and computing companies to support the K-Moonshot strategy.

KISTI, Nvidia and IonQ signed a tripartite agreement to develop quantum-HPC hybrid computing technology. The parties plan to cooperate on advancing quantum-HPC hybrid computing by linking Hangang with Tempo, as well as quantum algorithm research and talent development. The plan is to build a research environment to address difficult challenges such as new drug development, new materials and financial optimization.

KISTI and HPE signed a memorandum of understanding on March 17 to improve operational efficiency for the sixth supercomputer and advance the AI and HPC research environment. The agreement focuses on optimizing scientific application software for the supercomputing environment and laying the foundation for training scientific foundation models.

Cooperation with Nvidia will also be strengthened. KISTI signed a memorandum of understanding with Nvidia on March 18 and will step up cooperation on science AI research based on the sixth supercomputer. The sides will work together on developing large-scale science AI models and domain-specific foundation models using the supercomputer GPU infrastructure. They also plan to jointly run training programs such as GPU boot camps and hackathons to raise the level of use of the research environment.

Kim Seong-su (김성수), head of the research and development policy office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said next-generation computing technology is key infrastructure driving a paradigm shift in AI-based scientific research. He said the agreements are expected to help domestic researchers produce innovative results and speed up achievement of the K-Moonshot missions.