South Korea announces more than $1T AI, chip investment drive
7 hours ago
- #Semiconductor Investment
- #Artificial Intelligence
- #South Korea Tech
- South Korea announces over $1 trillion investment drive for AI and semiconductor chips, aiming to secure leadership in the AI boom.
- President Lee Jae Myung frames the strategy as a 'great leap forward' focusing on semiconductors, physical AI, and data centers, with Samsung and SK Hynix investing $518 billion.
- Investments include $3.2 billion to $13 billion in Gwangju and South Jeolla, and $52.5 billion for a chip-packaging cluster near Seoul, plus $356 billion for AI data centers.
- The plan targets building 10-gigawatt AI data centers by 2035, with total investments exceeding $648 billion, aiming to reduce regional disparities beyond Seoul.
- Opposition criticizes the plan, alleging political motivations for locating chip clusters in Honam, a stronghold of Lee's party, rather than based on commercial viability.