Upstage, LG AI Research, and SK Telecom have advanced to the final stage of the 'Sovereign AI Foundation Model' (Dokpamo) project. Early next year, the final two teams will be selected as 'national AI.' The government plans to pursue the development of top-tier models for global AI model competition.
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Aug. 18 that as a result of the second stage evaluation of Dokpamo, the Upstage, LG AI Research, and SK Telecom consortia (elite teams) advanced to the third stage evaluation. Motif Technologies, which joined the second evaluation through additional selection after the first stage evaluation, was eliminated.
The results of the second stage evaluation, which consisted of domestic and international benchmark evaluations, user evaluations, and expert evaluations, were fierce enough that rankings changed by evaluation rather than a single company dominating. The Ministry of Science and ICT explained that as a result of competition among four consortia, the companies advancing to the third evaluation were decided by a narrow margin.
Unlike when announcing the first evaluation, the Ministry of Science and ICT did not disclose the top company for each detailed indicator this time. The reason was that the score differences among the four teams in each area were small.
Motif Technologies' 'Motif 3' previously recorded the highest score among the four teams with 47 points on the Intelligence Index (AAII) of Artificial Analysis, a global AI evaluation organization, but suffered a bitter defeat as it received relatively low evaluations in usability and utility evaluations.
The Ministry of Science and ICT will support 1,000 high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) B200 each to Upstage, LG AI Research, and SKT for the third evaluation. The three consortia plan to announce the third evaluation results early next year through additional model development and advancement by the end of the year.
The government made clear its policy to realize 'top 3 global AI powerhouse' by pulling the Korean AI ecosystem up to a global level through the third evaluation. Ryu Je-myeong, second vice minister of Science and ICT, said, “Dokpamo is not a project to determine first and second place winners, but a project to strengthen and develop the competitiveness of the Korean AI ecosystem to a global level.”
Specific third evaluation items and point allocations have not been confirmed yet, and after the objection procedure ends, the evaluation plan will be finalized through consultation with the three companies.
The government also hinted at the possibility of a full reorganization of the Dokpamo project for the development of top-tier AI models. This is the result of reviewing the necessity of developing top-tier sovereign AI models in a situation where the movement to turn AI models into national security strategic assets becomes a reality in major leading countries such as the U.S.
“As soon as consultations with relevant ministries such as securing next year's budget are finished, we will announce the 2027 business plan for the development of top-tier models,” Vice Minister Ryu said.
