The Ministry of Science and ICT's AI (artificial intelligence)-related budget included in the 2027 fiscal year budget proposal approaches a total of 9.5 trillion won. The plan is to provide a catalyst for the AI transformation through concentrated investment nearly double that of this year. The ministry aims to secure South Korea's AI competitiveness by supporting frontier (top-tier) AI and the development of independent AI foundation models, while focusing on leading into an era of universal AI.
According to the 'Status Report on 2027 AI-Related Project Budget Proposal' submitted by the Ministry of Science and ICT to the National Assembly, next year's AI-related projects number 216 detailed projects and 357 sub-items within those detailed projects, with total project costs of 9.4591 trillion won. This represents a 93.3% increase compared to the 2026 budget. Compared to this year, 21 detailed projects were excluded (net decrease) from the 2027 budget proposal, while 57 were newly included (net increase). Budgets for 81 projects increased in the 2027 proposal, and budgets for 51 projects decreased compared to the previous year.
Looking at funding sources, the Ministry of Science and ICT's general account projects number 130 items, totaling 1.5167 trillion won. The Future Response Fund, newly established by the government this year due to surplus tax revenue from the semiconductor boom, includes 22 projects worth 6.6347 trillion won. Remaining funds, including the Regional Balanced Development Special Account, Semiconductor Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Special Account, Information and Communications Promotion Fund, and Broadcasting and Communications Development Fund, include 64 projects totaling 1.3077 trillion won.
The reason the Future Response Fund accounts for more than half of the Ministry of Science and ICT's AI project budget is that it includes a 4.2507 trillion won budget for the 'Strengthening the Foundation for Utilizing AI Computing Resources' project. Of this, 3.85 trillion won, equivalent to 90%, will be used to secure next-generation GPUs (graphics processing units). This is funding to acquire 140 units of the next-generation GPU server 'Vera Rubin' at 27.5 billion won per unit. Additionally, it includes a GPU (H100, B200, etc.) rental budget (3.5 million to 7 million won per unit) for lending to industries, academia, and research institutes.
A data purchase cost of 750 billion won for training frontier AI was also reflected. The data acquisition cost, which was 30 billion won this year, has increased 25-fold. The plan is to support the securing and utilization of high-quality training data so that intelligence and performance levels comparable to frontier-grade AI models can be reached in a short period. This means that as major countries and big tech companies compete over frontier AI development, securing data has become important, and associated costs have surged accordingly. A budget of 50 billion won was also allocated for training data for cybersecurity AI. In addition, the Future Response Fund includes 250 billion won for a project supporting the universal utilization of AI services for all citizens, and 185 billion won for the designation of AI/SW-centric universities.
In the R&D (research and development) sector, a budget of 145.7 billion won for the 'Creating an SW Platform R&D Ecosystem Based on Collaborative Intelligence Physical AI' project was included in the Regional Balanced Development Special Account. The Ministry of Science and ICT explained that this is a project to develop physical AI-based software specialized in industrial fields where Korean companies have strengths, to preemptively secure global technical standards, and to acquire the AI meta-factory technology implemented in Hyundai Motor's Singapore unmanned factory. The project includes core technology development, creation of research infrastructure such as testbeds, and activities to build a global ecosystem.
In addition, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, one of the ministries overseeing the three mega-projects (semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centers), also allocated 3.7261 trillion won for Manufacturing AI Transformation (M.AX) and full-scale support for mega-projects in the 2027 fiscal year budget proposal. Key items include: △ Development of Full-Stack AI Factories and Manufacturing AI Foundation Models (R&D) at 120 billion won; △ Development of AI Solutions Utilizing Manufacturing Tacit Knowledge (R&D) at 290 billion won; △ Construction and Operation of the National Manufacturing Data Library at 115.8 billion won; and △ Building the M.AX Autonomous Manufacturing Ecosystem at 119.3 billion won.
President Lee Jae-myung stated in his budget policy speech to the National Assembly on the 2nd, "We will boldly invest in artificial intelligence and future growth drivers to raise our economic growth potential." He added, "We are investing 21.3 trillion won, nearly double that of this year, in 'Three Mega-Projects' and artificial intelligence. We are concentrating 4.7 trillion won on frontier AI development with the goal of securing top-tier global performance for independent AI models, which are national strategic assets."
[Production Support: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Citizen-Centered Communication Activation Project]
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