Kakao Group will set up a regional artificial intelligence (AI) talent and company development body, dubbed 'Kakao AI Sail', with four major science and technology institutes: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).

Kakao Group on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the four institutes at KAIST's Academic and Cultural Center in Daejeon, with Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon (배경훈) in attendance.

The agreement is based on a 50 billion won AI development fund that Kakao Group announced in September last year. The new body, 'Kakao AI Sail', aims to build AI ecosystems outside the Seoul metropolitan area and promote industrialisation.

Key activities include training practice-oriented AI talent centred on the institutes, supporting startups by matching Kakao's human and technological assets, and promoting AI transformation (AX) through industry-academia cooperation focused on solving issues in regionally specialised industries.

Kakao Group plans to identify and nurture 100 AI startup teams by 2030. It will support commercialisation of the four institutes' deep-tech capabilities and help talent launch startups. It also plans to support regional AI companies' global expansion.

Chung Shin-a (정신아), chair of Kakao Group, said, "With the arrival of the AI era, even one-person companies have an opportunity to grow into unicorns." She added, "Kakao Group will play the role of a sail so that AI companies can be born in the regions as well."