The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced on the 14th that it has finalized a “plan to secure advanced Graphic Processing Units (GPUs)” after conducting a review and approval through the Economic Ministers’ Meeting and the Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Ministers’ Meeting.
The government stated that it would accelerate the construction of a public-private national Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing center and the sixth supercomputer. At the same time, it has formalized securing 10,000 GPUs within the year and has allocated an additional budget of 1.46 trillion KRW for acquiring advanced GPUs.
The government plans to promptly secure large-scale, advanced GPUs and will select a cloud service provider (CSP) through a public tender that can build and manage these resources.
Priority selection will be given to CSPs participating in the national AI computing center, while a separate expert committee will be formed to conduct evaluations through documentation, presentations, and on-site inspections.
Evaluation will focus on the provider’s capabilities to secure and build advanced, large-scale GPUs, their ability to quickly deploy GPU services, and the ratio and plan for self-utilization of GPU resources (considering the nature of CSP operating costs).
Selected CSPs will enter into agreements regarding rights and other matters on a five-year basis. The agreements will include securing GPU ownership for the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), using GPUs for the national AI computing center, and allowing the selected CSPs to partially use the GPU resources themselves.
The government also announced plans to prepare the existing data center infrastructure possessed by the selected CSPs in advance during the GPU procurement and securing process.
Following the purchase and establishment of GPUs, the government plans to strategically allocate GPU support through educational and research institutions, national projects, and other ventures, while establishing a constant support system via an SPC.
Particularly, the government plans to meticulously grasp domestic GPU demand and application areas from the start of the procurement and establishment process, developing and executing tailored support plans.
Additionally, the government will flexibly adjust GPU support allocation based on market demand surveys, policy priorities, performance, and achievements.
The burden of GPU usage among domestic academia, research institutes, and industries will be set at an appropriate level. The government aims to finalize the specific burden level by September, taking into account the scale of user institutions and the level of self-funding in other projects.
The Ministry of Science and ICT mentioned plans to discuss GPU acquisition with NVIDIA on the 16th and to expedite the corporate selection process through pre-explanatory sessions for CSPs. It also emphasized its commitment to securing GPUs within the year and rolling out related services swiftly through public-private cooperation.