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It was argued that to expand exports of domestic NPU (Neural Processing Unit), it is necessary to increase 'reference' cases from actual services such as public AI services. The claim is that to break through the solid global NVIDIA ecosystem, real-world usage records must be established.
Representatives of five domestic semiconductor startups—Rebellion, FURIOUSAI, DeepX, HyperXcel, and MangoBoost—made this recommendation at the 'National Assembly Policy Seminar on Expanding Domestic NPU Exports and Diversifying Sales Channels' held at the National Assembly on the 10th. The seminar was hosted by Cho Dong-jin, a Member of the People Power Party.
Park Sung-hyun, CEO of Rebellion, who delivered the opening remarks, emphasized that "references showing actual AI services are running are most important in overseas business." He added that their NPU being actually used in SK Telecom's AI call summary service and in water purification robots by startup EcoPhy has helped create other business opportunities.
Park (CEO) stated, "A cyclical structure is needed where more demonstrations accumulate references, which then enable further demonstrations globally to build additional references." He also noted, "While the Korea Information and Communication Industry Promotion Agency provides various demonstration opportunities in the public infrastructure sector, I feel their scale is still insufficient."
Kim Ju-young, Vice Minister of HLee Peo-ek-sel (CEO), also proposed that "policy focus should be on building references." Kim (CEO) remarked, "Global large-scale clients always ask, 'So how many AI services have you actually run with that semiconductor?' Unlike NVIDIA, which has accumulated references over 20 years, domestic startups are latecomers, so the nation must create large-scale references for them."
Specifically, it was also argued that government support should shift from the semiconductor chip level to the system level. Kim Jang-woo, CEO of MangoBoost, said, "Apple smartphones may lag behind Samsung smartphones in individual component performance, but they achieve higher overall quality through integrated system capabilities." He added, "NPU support should also be at the system level that integrates networks and software."
Baek Jun-ho, CEO of FURIOUSAI, who participated via video link, also stated, "Support should be provided by configuring independent foundation models and global AI models based on NPU in a full-stack manner." An Ki-hyun, Executive Vice President of the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, said, "Data center projects cannot be secured by fabless companies alone," and proposed that "a consortium combining power, cooling, servers, networks, cloud, security, finance, and construction is necessary."
Ko Dong-jin (Rep.) stated, "The idea that domestic NPU must be used and supported solely because it is 'domestic' is wrong. However, since there is clear demand for NPU and the level of domestic NPU has significantly improved, the market definitely exists." He further added, "If the government steps in to build references and finds appropriate support methods for them, it will help open export channels."
Meanwhile, immediately after the seminar on this day, Park Seong-hyeon (CEO) was questioned by reporters about a meeting with Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. Park (CEO) replied, "I cannot disclose details at this time," and added, "Since discussions are ongoing, I will announce them once they are finalized."
[MoneyToday Startup Media Platform Unicorn Factory]
in FUTURE
