The government is partnering with major European AI strategy nations to establish an AI research hub in Europe. This will be the second overseas hub following the "Global AI Frontier Lab," which opened in New York, U.S., in 2024.
According to a business plan for the "Global AI Joint Research Lab" submitted by the Ministry of Science and ICT to the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Jeong-heon on the 3rd, the Ministry of Science and ICT and IITP (Information and Communications Planning Evaluation Institute) will begin constructing the European Global AI Joint Research Lab next year.
The Global AI Joint Research Lab is a core hub for developing next-generation AI in collaboration with major European countries' AI research institutions and conducting global AI ethics and safety verification studies. Given that it involves areas requiring large-scale resources such as GPUs (graphics processing units) and training data, the project aims to transcend the limitations of single-nation efforts.
Europe is recognized as a powerful joint research partner possessing abundant scientific and technological and bio-training data, AI data centers and GPU resources, and research personnel from various universities and institutions. In France, there is the AI startup "Mistral," known as "Europe's OpenAI." ETH Zurich in Switzerland is evaluated as having world-class capabilities in AI algorithm research. Germany has designated six national AI hubs and announced "permanent support," demonstrating strong enthusiasm for AI transformation in representative industries such as automobiles and chemicals.
At the European Union (EU) level, it is considered another market distinct from the U.S., given its application of strict AI safety standards and ethics. While the U.S. leads the high-performance large foundation model market by investing massive computing resources primarily in big tech companies, Europe focuses on "trustworthy AI" and "explainable AI," emphasizing safety. A representative example is the "AI Act," which the EU passed as the world's first in 2024. The AI Act is closer to a regulatory law that protects personal information and copyrights in response to AI. It means that AI models seeking entry into the European market must meet high levels of technical transparency and security standards. Even "ChatGPT" has become subject to top-level legal obligations and oversight under EU regulations.
An IITP official stated, "It is true that even U.S. companies with advanced technological capabilities face difficulties entering the European market," and added, "By promoting joint research based on collaborative hubs while preparing for Korean companies' entry into the European market, we expect to enhance mutual understanding of European AI safety standards."
The Ministry of Science and ICT has allocated a budget of approximately 3 billion won for next year with the goal of physically establishing a hub in Europe. Communication with local European research institutions is also ongoing. As Korea has ascended to become one of the "top three AI nations," reports indicate that Europe's response has been proactive.
Once the European hub is established, it is expected to complete an "AI core research hub" connecting the U.S. and Europe with Korea at its center by linking with the successfully operating Global AI Frontier Lab in New York, U.S.
in TECH
