South Korean ICT minister to visit US for GPU cooperation talks

Seoul, May 13 (IANS) South Korean Minister of Science and ICT Yoo Sang-im will visit the United States later this week to discuss ways to expand cooperation with Nvidia in securing advanced graphic processing units (GPUs), the ministry said on Tuesday.

The announcement came during a meeting of the government-led special committee on artificial intelligence (AI) computing, which Yoo chairs.

At the meeting, the ministry also unveiled an additional budget of 1.46 trillion won ($1.03 billion) aimed at purchasing 10,000 high-performance GPUs, reports Yonhap news agency.

The budget will support a comprehensive plan covering procurement, infrastructure development and GPU utilisation through public-private collaboration.

This follows the South Korean government's earlier pledge to secure 10,000 advanced GPUs within this year to stay competitive in the global AI race.

As part of the first phase, the government will select a cloud service provider to begin GPU acquisition and build related infrastructure at the planned National AI Computing Center.

The program will also support local industry-academia research centres and state-funded project operators by allowing them to utilise the national data centre.

"Securing advanced GPUs is the beginning of innovation in Korea's AI ecosystem," Yoo said. "We will work closely with both the public and private sectors to acquire GPUs within this year, support domestic AI efforts and expand computing infrastructure to enhance Korea's AI competitiveness."

Meanwhile, KG Mobility said on Tuesday it has partnered with Indonesia's state-run defence company PT Pindad to collaborate on a national car and electric bus project for the Southeast Asian country.

The South Korean automaker said it signed a heads of agreement (HOA) with PT Pindad at the latter's headquarters in Bandung, Indonesia, on Thursday. The signing ceremony was attended by KG Mobility Chairman Kwak Jea-sun and PT Pindad's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sigit Santosa.

Under the deal, KG Mobility will support PT Pindad with vehicle product evaluation, technology and engineering.

The two sides will collaborate on expanding the scale of PT Pindad's ongoing national car and electric bus production project in Indonesia to reach a capacity of 200,000 units.

—IANS

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