The government's "Independent AI Foundation Model" (Dokpamo) project, which selects a national representative AI model, has found itself at the center of controversy at every stage. The format is a survival-style competition targeting major domestic ICT companies, and because the evaluation criteria change each time, objections and complaints have continued to arise, particularly among eliminated companies.
Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon expressed his determination to continue the project by posting on his personal social media account late on the 29th, "The Republic of Korea's Dokpamo will continue." Vice Prime Minister Bae emphasized, "We must not stop Dokpamo simply because we are challenging Frontier AI," adding, "In areas such as manufacturing, finance, healthcare, public services, and physical AI, AI that considers cost, speed, security, and expertise is needed."
The current controversy erupted after the third-stage evaluation of Dokpamo was suspended and speculation emerged that Dokpamo could be integrated into a separate Frontier AI project. Concerns are also being raised that if Frontier AI is pursued through an SPC (Special Purpose Vehicle) structure involving corporate capital contributions, participation by small and medium-sized startups with limited financial resources may become difficult.
Dokpamo attracted attention from the preliminary selection stage due to Kakao's elimination. In the first-round evaluation, Naver (NAVER), a leading contender for victory, was eliminated amid controversy over "independent technology." Subsequently, Motif Technologies, selected through a loser's revival round, filed an objection after being eliminated despite receiving high scores on global AI benchmarks. During the evaluation process, controversy also arose over "benchmarking," which refers to optimizing performance specifically to match certain benchmarks. This time, concerns about the potential suspension of Dokpamo have been added to the mix.
Industry insiders point to the "survival format" and "moving target"-style evaluations as the core causes of the controversy. While the survival format clearly has promotional benefits for informing the public about the technology and services of successful companies, it leaves a mark on those who are eliminated. In fact, Upstage secured large-scale investment after participating in Dokpamo and grew into a unicorn company, while SK Telecom and NC AI also used the opportunity to transition their image into that of AI companies. On the other hand, Kakao and Naver were left with scars.
There are also difficulties arising from the fact that evaluation criteria change over time, requiring companies to redevelop models to meet new standards, as well as controversies regarding the fairness of the evaluations.
At the launch of Dokpamo, the core competitiveness in AI was considered to be the language understanding and generation capabilities of LLMs (Large Language Models). However, with the rapid rise of Frontier AI following AI agents, the evaluation elements have changed. While this is an unavoidable choice for the government, it is sufficient to serve as a trigger for controversy. One industry insider lamented, "It is not easy to present a new model every time within six months to align with a new evaluation method."
Recently, anxiety surrounding the promotion of Frontier AI has also grown. Although it was expected that the Dokpamo winning company would lead the development of Frontier AI, which will become a national strategic asset, Frontier AI is being pursued as a separate project distinct from Dokpamo.
A senior executive at one company said, "We participated believing that Dokpamo was intended to challenge Frontier AI, so it is inevitably disappointing if the direction changes," adding, "I am worried about whether our independent AI model will remain sustainable when other Frontier models emerge."
However, some view such controversies as growing pains in the process of Korea transforming into an AI powerhouse. It is assessed that the debates surrounding Dokpamo themselves have heightened public interest in domestic AI technology and sovereign AI.
in TECH
