Early this week, South Korea announced that they will develop up to 50 types of Artificial Intelligence (AI) focused system semiconductors by 2030, Yonhap News Agency reported. The plan was shared by the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) regulator on Monday. To fulfil their vision, the government has expressed the desire to empower thousands of local experts so that they can lead the new wave of innovation.

 AI chips refer to high performance and power-efficient semiconductors that specialise in AI services.

AI chips are a new generation of microprocessors which contain graphics processing units (GPUs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that are specifically designed to process AI. Elaborating on the plan further, the ICT ministry said it looks forward to harbouring homegrown technology and support them into developing the AI chips by 2022 while fostering 3,000 experts in the sector over the next 10 years. With these steps, the country aims to dominate at least 20% of the global AI chip market in the next decade. 

Further, the ministry plans to utilise 70 billion won from the government’s local semiconductor fund to help chip-making companies accelerate research and development for competent AI chips, as well as mergers and acquisitions. The fund was created last year.

 By the end of the decade, the AI chip market is said to grow to the US $ 117.9 billion, increasing almost 10 folds from the current year - which is at $18.5 billion indicates the Korea Information Society Development Institute.

South Korean chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics Co and SK hynix Inc are the dominating the global DRAM memory chip market with a combined market share of 73.6% in the second quarter this year. However, the market tracker Gartner foresees this dominance to loosen by 0.5% in the coming four years.

The announcement for AI-chipmaking boost comes in the line of several other initiatives by the South Korean government to motivate the next-generation chip to advance companies in recent times. For example, earlier this year, the government announced a budget of $870 million, equivalent to $ 1 trillion won, which was earmarked for the production and commercialisation of AI chips for the entire decade. Similarly, last year, President Moon Jae-in announced his “Presidential Initiative for AI” to raise public awareness on the industry.