The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 4th that it will announce the 'AI Core Field and Promising Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX) Startup Fostering Project' starting on the 5th to foster AI startups in high-growth fields.

This project is a new Phase 1 Micro Ultra-Gap Program established this year among the Phase 3 programs of the '1000+ Ultra-Gap Startups Project' announced last month, and will select a total of 20 promising AI·AX startups.

In the commercialization of AI core fields, 5 AI startups in fields such as sLLM and manufacturing, bio, and content will be selected and supported with up to 150 million won in technology advancement and technology commercialization funds. Depending on the characteristics, the 'Artificial Intelligence Convergence Business Unit', the main organization, will also provide infrastructure such as GPU-based AI computing resources and verification centers.

For the fostering of promising AX startups, 15 AX startups with AI technology that can be applied to the products and services of large, medium, and small businesses in the three major fields of manufacturing, bio, and content will be selected. The selected companies will receive 80 million won in collaboration funds and support for securing new sales channels.

Applications for this announcement will be accepted until the 25th of this month, and companies that receive excellent performance evaluations will be able to receive additional support by linking to the ‘Super Gap Startup’ project.

In addition, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it plans to announce the AI Super Gap Challenge at the end of February along with continued announcements of follow-up projects related to the Super Gap AI Startup Level-up Strategy. The AI regional key industry linkage project is planned to be announced in April.

Minister Oh Young-joo said, “AI is a core field that determines not only the industry but also the fate of the country. To support the growth of AI startups in high-growth fields, we announced the ‘Super-Gap AI Startup Level-Up Strategy’ last year.” He added, “This project is the first to implement the growth strategy, and we will continue to pursue follow-up support projects to ensure that the strategy is implemented without a hitch.”