“KAIST Kim Jae-chul AI Graduate School in Pangyo has broken ground, funded by the personal contribution of Kim Jae-chul, founder of the Dongwon Group and Korea Investment Holdings,” reported Dongwon Group on the 26th.
According to Dongwon Group, the KAIST Kim Jae-chul AI Graduate School Pangyo research building will be constructed on a 6,000㎡ site in Pangyo-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam City, covering a total floor area of 18,185㎡. KAIST is investing a total budget of 54.2 billion KRW to build the facility, which will include underground and eight above-ground floors with AI convergence research labs and lecture rooms. It is expected to be completed in February 2028.
The KAIST Kim Jae-chul AI Graduate School will also house a 10MW-class urban AI data center and plans to establish a robot lab for research on physical AI and humanoids. Various projects, including weather forecasting, new drug development, scientific AI, healthcare AI, and manufacturing AI, will be conducted in the open spaces on each floor.
There will also be an experiential space for public participation. An AI exhibition hall, gallery, and cinema space will be planned to provide an overview of AI history and lower the entry barrier to new technologies while increasing public empathy.
The entire budget for the construction of the graduate school comes from the personal contributions of Honorary Chairman Kim Jae-chul, who has donated a total of 60.3 billion KRW to KAIST since 2020. The site for the construction was leased for free by Seongnam City.
In a congratulatory speech, Honorary Chairman Kim said, “Just as Korea rose as a business power from the blue sea, it will now find new opportunities in the sea of data,” expressing his hope that the AI graduate school will not just be a physical space but a cradle for nurturing AI talent that will lead the world and a starting point.”