K-Moonshot, a large-scale national project aimed at elevating the nation's scientific and technological competitiveness by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), has begun full-scale operation with a public-private partnership system in place.

On the 11th, the Ministry of Science and ICT signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with domestic AI and infrastructure companies at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul, formalizing the K-Moonshot promotion strategy.

The core of this project is that it is a "national project to utilize AI to increase scientific and technological research productivity and fulfill national missions."

K-Moonshot aims to revolutionize the research process itself by integrating AI and science and technology.

The government has presented a blueprint to double research productivity by 2030 and to use AI to solve 12 national missions in eight fields, including advanced bio, future energy, physical AI, semiconductors, and quantum, by 2035.

To this end, we are pursuing a strategy of integrating AI models, data, and computing infrastructure into a single system and applying it to research sites.

With this agreement as an opportunity The 'K-Moonshot Corporate Partnership' was also launched.

As of now, 161 companies have expressed their intention to cooperate, and a cooperative structure will be established centered around 88 companies that possess core infrastructure such as AI models, computing, and data.

The partnership will be operated through three divisions: AI Models and Agents, Computing and Networks, and Data, and will be responsible for providing AI resources, conducting joint research and development, and discovering verification projects.

The list of participating companies is also impressive.

Leading domestic AI companies, including LG AI Research Center, SK Telecom, Upstage, Naver Cloud, KT, NC AI, and Nota, have been named in the model and agent fields.

In the data sector, Pluto, Persona AI, and Saltlux are participating, while in the computing infrastructure sector, LG Uplus, Ellis Group, and Mango Boost are joining.

Companies in eight key mission fields, including advanced bio, future energy, physical AI, shipbuilding and marine, and semiconductors, are also expected to gradually engage in cooperation.

Policy support is also provided.

The government plans to provide AI infrastructure, including research data and GPUs, to partner companies and support follow-up commercialization and verification, ensuring that technologies extend beyond the lab and into the industrial field.

Furthermore, we will link existing research and development projects with the K-Moonshot mission through an inter-ministerial collaboration system, and enhance the execution capabilities of each mission centered around the general manager (PD).

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Baek Kyung-hoon emphasized, “Now is the golden time to consolidate national capabilities as AI fundamentally redesigns the way we conduct scientific and technological research,” and “We will promote K-Moonshot so that the Republic of Korea can leap forward as a country that leads future technologies.”