Seoul opens 4.7 trillion won in frontier AI funding to bidders beyond its finalists

The 2027 budget proposal writes the 4.7 trillion won as equity investment for a top-tier homegrown model, with private capital expected to add to it ^[7]. The line names one model, and the current race will still produce two finalists ^[3]. The ministry has not decided how the stake will be held: a consortium and a special-purpose company are both under review, along with roles for large companies, startups and other investors ^[9]. A bidder in the new round is bidding for a stake alongside the state, or rather for the size of that stake, because the number of shareholders has not been set ^[9].

Current support is roughly 1,000 high-end GPUs per remaining team ^[8]. "Investment on the scale of 1,000 GPUs is not enough to catch up with frontier-class models," Ryu Je-myung, the second vice minister of science and ICT, said. "The scale has to be completely different." ^[16] The roughly 29,000 GPUs the government has bought or is bringing online come to about 14.5 times the 2,000 the two finalists would hold between them at today's rate ^[12][1]. Seoul is dropping its plan to keep both survivors on computing support through 2027 ^[4].

The next round can end in one of three places. The first is that one or both finalists win it anyway, helped by the incentives the ministry is weighing for resources they have already committed ^[5]. The open contest would then land close to where the old extension would have ^[4]. The second is that the consortium option pulls LG AI Research, SK Telecom, Upstage and some startups into a single vehicle, and the contest becomes a negotiation over ownership ^[9][2]. The third is that the public and private money falls short, and Ryu's own condition for matching leading Chinese open models fails ^[10].

I'd expect the second. One equity line, one model, a consortium on the table and three teams with resources already committed all point toward a shared vehicle ^[7][9][5]. The case against is in Ryu's own words. "Participation should be open," he said, adding that startups with strong technology and talent should have "fair and reasonable opportunities" to compete ^[6]. He also said the finalist incentives should not distort how public funding is allocated ^[5]. A startup-led winner, or a 4.7 trillion won line split across rival vehicles, would prove the consortium view wrong ^[7].

Results from the current third stage are due around mid-February ^[13]. With the new program able to start as early as March, the two winners would hold finalist status for a matter of weeks ^[14][2]. "We will select two. That is certain," Ryu said ^[15].