The Decoder reported on 6 October that South Korea plans to put 4.7 trillion won ($3.49 billion) into a homegrown frontier AI model, meaning one at the leading edge. The money would come as state equity stakes and sits in the proposed 2027 budget. A second track would back use of Korean-built models. The two finalists in the current contest get no automatic extra funds. A new open competition would let startups enter.
Parliament has not approved the budget. The Decoder says officials accept that Korea cannot match the largest US firms but can match leading open models from China. Open models are ones whose makers let others download and run them. That is a narrower target than the best US systems. The sum is roughly nine times the 530 billion won (about $390 million) pledged earlier. The report gives no start date and no detail on how the equity stakes would work.
Officials are aiming to follow the best open models, not to lead. The Decoder notes that Korean consumers mostly pay foreign providers for AI. Budget owners in Korea can ask whether a Korean model beats the open Chinese ones available now, whether it can run on their own systems, and how much of their AI spending goes abroad today.