AFP, SEOUL
South Korea plans to invest nearly US$1.2 trillion — equivalent to more than two-thirds of its GDP — in a new chip-building hub and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers over several years, as it seeks to profit from soaring demand while developing previously neglected regions.The enormous cash injection comes as Asia’s fourth-largest economy rides high on a global AI boom — with South Korean memory makers emerging as a crucial cog in the fast-moving industry.“Speed is the only path to survival. We must secure the core elements of artificial intelligence faster than any other nation,” South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said in Seoul at an event to unveil the public-private collaboration.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, center, Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong, right, and SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won hold hands after a briefing announcing public-private collaboration projects at the presidential Blue House in Seoul yesterday.
Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc are to make a record investment of 800 trillion won (around US$520 billion) in a new semiconductor fabrication hub in the country’s southwest, the government said.The government also announced a separate investment of 1 quadrillion won (around US$650 billion) in AI data centers over the next 10 years.
