The Ministry of Science and ICT is moving forward with the AI Strategy Summit to discover AI tasks and flesh out policies. Global scholars and big tech executives will attend the 'AI Seoul Summit' to be held on the 21st to discuss AI technology development and utilization.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Science and ICT, together with the Institute of Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP), launched the AI R&D division of the 'AI Strategy High-Level Council' and held its first meeting.

This division is a division in charge of AI R&D among the divisions under the 'AI Strategy Highest Council', which was launched as the highest governance of public-private AI on Thursday, April 4. In the future, it plans to discover tasks in the AI R&D field and concretize related policy tasks by linking and operating with this council.

The first meeting of the R&D division of the 'AI Strategy High-Level Council' was attended by about 20 experts from academia, industry, and research, including Lee Sang-min, the head of the Internet Promotion Division of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Professor Cho Seong-bae of Yonsei University, the head of the division, as well as members of the R&D division and IITP, an ICT R&D specialized organization. Major industry experts included SD Flex and FortyTwoMaru. Participants include TwoDigit, LG AI Lab, KT AI2X, Naver Cloud, Upstage, and Minds Lab.

Following the presentations by experts on the following topics: △Operational direction and future plans of the R&D division of the AI Strategy Council, △AI R&D issues in the context of global technological hegemony competition, △Direction of major AI R&D tasks within the AI-Semiconductor Initiative, the attending members had in-depth discussions and debates on the direction of AI R&D in the public and private sectors.

The R&D division of the 'AI Strategy High-Level Council', which held its first meeting on this day, plans to operate every other month or periodically, and create a forum for free exchange of opinions centered on AI R&D without any scope restrictions.

Kim Kyung-man, the Director General for Artificial Intelligence-Based Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “The explosive potential of AI and the resulting socioeconomic ramifications are rapidly evolving to a level that is difficult to predict, and are having a deeper impact on our daily lives and society as a whole.” He emphasized, “A strategic approach to AI R&D, in-depth discussion, and speedy implementation are more important than ever. We will do our best to bring together the collective wisdom of experts from academia, industry, and research to make AI R&D a key driving force that opens up new possibilities for our country’s future.”

■ AI Seoul Summit, Actively Promoting AI Development

The 'AI Seoul Summit' co-hosted by Korea and the UK will be held on the 21st, and the 'AI Global Forum' will be held solely by the Korean government on the 22nd. Research projects to promote AI development will be discussed.

Key attendees include global AI big tech executives, including Andrew Ng, professor at Stanford University, Elizabeth Kelly, director of the US AI Safety Institute, Jason Kwon, chief strategy officer (CSO) of OpenAI, Natasha Crampton, chief responsibility officer (CRAIO) at Microsoft, Tom Lu, vice president of Google DeepMind, Rob Sherman, chief privacy officer (CPO) of Mehta, Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, Aidan Gomez, CEO of Cohere, Sabastian Niles, chief legal officer (CLO) of Salesforce, and Christina Montgomery, chief privacy and trust officer of IBM.

In particular, the event is drawing attention with the attendance of Professor Andrew Ng, one of the world's leading scholars known as one of the 'Big Four AI Kings', Tom Lu, Vice President of Google DeepMind, and Jason Kwon, Chief Strategy Officer of OpenAI and a close associate of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

In Korea, the participants include Kang Do-hyun, 2nd Vice Minister of Science and ICT, Ha Jung-woo, Director of Naver Future AI Center, Bae Soon-min, Director of KT Responsible AI Center, Lee Sang-ho, Chief AI Officer (CAIO) of Kakao, and Lee Hong-rak, Chief AI Scientist (CSAI) of LG AI Research Institute.

On the evening of the first day, Tuesday the 21st, a summit meeting will be held via video conference. The heads of state will discuss ways to ensure the safety of AI, promote innovation, and lead an inclusive future. On the second day, Wednesday the 22nd, a ministerial meeting will be held. The ministers in attendance plan to discuss more specific cooperation measures, such as ways to strengthen each country's AI safety capabilities and sustainable AI development, based on the discussions at the previous day's summit.

The 'AI Seoul Summit Ministerial Session' will be held in person in Seoul on May 22, 2024, and will be held consecutively with the AI Global Forum hosted by Korea. The Minister of Science and ICT of Korea, Lee Jong-ho, and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology of the UK, Michelle Donnellan, will serve as co-chairs of the 'AI Seoul Summit Ministerial Session'.