The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Oh Young-joo, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups) announced on the 26th that it held the 'AI Super Gap Challenge Kick-off Day' event at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul to promote technology commercialization of AI startups and support securing sales channels through demand-based collaboration between global corporations such as LG Electronics and Qualcomm and promising domestic AI startups.
With the recent emergence of China's Deepseek, which has launched a low-cost, high-performance LLM model in the global market, the competition for AI technology hegemony among countries such as the United States and China is intensifying, and the adoption of AI across industries is accelerating.
Accordingly, the importance of developing 'on-device AI' and 'vertical AI' technologies that can apply demand-based specialized AI technologies to specific devices and specific industries such as manufacturing and bio is increasing, and related policy support is very important.
In July of last year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the 'Super Gap AI Startup Level-up Strategy' to foster promising AI startups in five high-growth AI fields, including sLLM, AI fabless, and manufacturing AI, based on demand linkage in line with these global market trends, and foster them into global unicorns.
As a key task of the plan, we have been pushing forward with the expansion of the 'AI Super Gap Challenge' to strengthen growth and create sales channels and other results by combining the demands of global corporations and the innovative capabilities of AI startups.
In addition to LG Electronics, which we co-hosted last year, this year we have also invited global giant Qualcomm to participate, and through continuous consultation, we have decided to start this challenge by significantly expanding the scope, programs, and scale of collaboration.
This year's challenge consists of two programs: 'On-Device AI' in collaboration with LG Electronics, Intel, and others, and 'Vertical AI' in collaboration with Qualcomm and four promising deep-tech SMEs and venture companies that are Qualcomm's domestic partners. The main contents are as follows.
◆ On-Device AI Program
In addition to the LG Electronics notebooks that were promoted last year, this year, collaboration will be expanded to six areas, including smart TVs, digital signage, and home appliances, which are expected to expand in the global market by incorporating creative AI technologies from AI startups.
This year, a total of 15 companies will be supported, and they will be selected through joint evaluation with LG Electronics. Unlike the previous year, the selected startups will be supported with up to 100 million won in collaborative funds for AI model development, PoC, etc.
In addition, LG Electronics will support business unit matching, PoC planning cooperation, and technology development, while Intel will provide development toolkits and AI chip utilization training. As a result of the collaboration, the AI technology of startups with excellent performance will be installed in LG Electronics devices to secure sales.
◆ Vertical AI Program
This is a new program established this year that supports collaboration with deep-tech SMEs and venture companies in four fields, including autonomous driving and drones, for which demand has been confirmed through marketability verification by global giant Qualcomm.
The scale of support is a total of 4 companies, which will be jointly evaluated and selected with Qualcomm, and the selected startups will be supported with up to 100 million won in collaborative funds, including PoC.
Qualcomm will provide support for AI semiconductors, utilization of Qualcomm AI Hub, 1:1 matching with companies in demand, equipment utilization, etc., and for AI technologies of startups with excellent performance, Qualcomm plans to provide global expansion and sales channels by discovering new business partners and linking with global partners.
Startups wishing to participate in each program can apply through the K-Startup portal from February 26 to March 18.
Meanwhile, the 'Kick-off Day' event began with opening remarks by Minister of SMEs and Startups Oh Young-joo, LG Electronics MS Business Division President Park Hyung-se, and Qualcomm Headquarters Senior Vice President and APAC President Kwon Oh-hyung, followed by congratulatory remarks by Intel Korea President Bae Tae-won and Creativity AI Startup Association President Lee Se-hyung, a presentation on global AI technology trends, an announcement of challenge programs by each collaborative organization, an introduction to the Korea Institute for Startup & Entrepreneurship Development's business announcement and schedule, and a ceremony.
In addition, before the event, Minister Oh Young-joo held a luncheon meeting with representatives of six AI startups that participated in last year's 'On-Device AI Challenge', shared the results, and discussed areas for improvement in the government's AI startup support policy.
Starting with this challenge, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to sequentially hold challenges with anchor companies in each deep tech field, such as the 'Fabless Challenge' in which fabless startups and all domestic foundries collaborate, the 'Climate Tech Challenge' in which public institutions such as KEPCO support public procurement, and the 'Medium-Sized Enterprise-Startup Challenge' in which new growth engines are discovered through collaboration with mid-sized companies. It plans to continuously support related policies so that deep tech startups in new industries can create results through collaboration.
LG Electronics MS Business Division President Park Hyung-se said, “In order to discover new businesses and commercialize AI startups, we plan to expand the scope of collaboration to include all display products, home appliances, and smart home solutions.” He added, “After the challenge collaboration, we will strive to quickly apply the AI technology of startups that perform well to the relevant devices.”
“Qualcomm, a leader in on-device AI, continues to showcase its cutting-edge on-device AI technology and product portfolio, providing differentiated performance in a variety of industries,” said Ohhyung Kwon, senior vice president and president of Qualcomm Asia Pacific. “Through this Vertical AI Gap Challenge, we plan to expand collaboration with domestic ISV partners and support promising domestic startups.”
Minister Oh Young-joo said, “As the speed of AI technology in the global market has been accelerating recently, it is more important than ever for AI startups to quickly commercialize specialized AI technologies based on demand for specific devices and industries.” He added, “We will fully support relevant policies so that promising AI startups can commercialize innovative AI technologies with global corporations through this challenge and accelerate their global expansion.”
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