Sogang University (President Shim Jong-hyuk) announced that it is taking part in two large national projects — one for nurturing practice-ready talent in generative AI and one for developing an independent foundation model — and is thus moving in earnest to build Korea's generative AI ecosystem and secure technological leadership.

First, the 'Generative AI Talent Development Project', led by NC AI with 18 faculty members from three universities — Sogang University, KAIST and UNIST — is being pursued over 3.5 years with a total budget of 7.2 billion won supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT. Sogang University will nurture practice-focused talent through the development of core algorithms in multimodal generative AI technology and a specialized curriculum.

The project is run around a talent development programme designed jointly by Sogang University and NC AI from the planning stage. Sogang University teaches and researches the foundational technologies of generative AI, while NC AI provides the talent it secures with medium- to long-term internships and opportunities for real-world validation, nurturing people who can be deployed in practice immediately through an organic link between education, validation and practice. Together with NC AI, Sogang University plans to secure and commercialize a range of convergence technologies based on multimodal generative AI — search, augmentation, video interpretation, audio generation and more — in stages.

Sogang University has also been selected for the 'Independent AI Foundation Model Development Project' together with Upstage, Nota AI and Lebl-up, leading Korean generative AI technology companies. The project nurtures institutions building national K-AI models through integrated support of 165 billion won per consortium over 2.5 years; Sogang University is taking part in strengthening the multimodality, reliability and stability of the national foundation model and in developing vertical, domain-specialized models.

The Sogang University research team is made up of experts who have exercised real technological leadership in industry at KT, Naver and elsewhere, and is expected to contribute quickly to the development of the national foundation model. In addition, the University proposed and was selected for 5 billion won of talent acquisition and joint research together with KAIST and Upstage, and Sogang University's College of Software Convergence (Dean Park Soo-yong) set out its ambition to recruit distinguished overseas AI faculty during the project period and to build on that to become a leading university in global AI research.

Sogang University already runs specialized graduate tracks for AI technology development with LG Electronics, Smilegate and others to nurture AI talent, and through the two large national projects it has now won it plans to realize both securing technological leadership in AI and nurturing future talent at the same time. Through close industry-academic cooperation with leading Korean generative AI companies such as NC AI and Upstage, the University aims to play a pivotal role in securing core national technology and strengthening global competitiveness.

Professor Jang Doo-sung (Department of Artificial Intelligence, College of Software Convergence), principal investigator for both projects, said: "Generative AI is a core technology that will change the paradigm of future industry; through cooperation with leading Korean companies we will nurture world-class talent and secure independent technology."

Source: eDonga (https://edu.donga.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=93237)