The National Growth Fund has decided to make a direct investment of KRW 800 billion in Furiosa AI to support the development of domestic artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors. It will also provide KRW 500 billion in financial support for Smilegate’s AI data center construction and KRW 300 billion for SK bioscience’s vaccine plant expansion.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced on the 28th that, at the National Growth Fund Investment Management Deliberation Committee meeting, it approved a direct investment of around KRW 800 billion from the National Growth Fund into Furiosa AI, a domestic AI semiconductor development company. About half of the investment funds will be raised through the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund (KRW 370 billion) and Korea Development Bank.

The direct investment in Furiosa AI is intended for the development of next-generation AI chips using high bandwidth memory (HBM)4 and for building out the domestic AI semiconductor industrial ecosystem. The FSC stated, “Furiosa AI is a company with independent competitiveness in the design field and is expected to gain a competitive edge in the global market,” adding, “We approved a large-scale direct investment so that the company can overcome funding difficulties and secure a leading global position without a capital gap.”

The committee also resolved to provide infrastructure investment and financing for the construction of two data centers by game company Smilegate to secure AI infrastructure. It will support a combined investment and financing package consisting of KRW 250 billion in equity investment and KRW 250 billion in subordinated loans. Smilegate plans to use these data centers to introduce AI technologies into its flagship game “Lost Ark.”

The committee decided to extend a KRW 300 billion loan to SK bioscience, which is developing a phase 3 pneumococcal vaccine candidate. Based on this funding, SK bioscience plans to strengthen its global clinical research and development (R&D) capabilities and introduce advanced equipment needed for manufacturing serotype vaccines.

In addition, the committee approved a KRW 220 billion long-term, low-interest loan for L&F Plus, a subsidiary of L&F, for its mass-production business of LFP (lithium iron phosphate) secondary battery cathode materials, and a KRW 20 billion low-interest loan for Geunwoo, a company in North Chungcheong Province that produces switchboards for AI data centers.

A total of five projects with an aggregate value of KRW 4.14 trillion were approved at the committee meeting that day. To date, the National Growth Fund has approved 16 projects totaling KRW 12.5 trillion. The FSC said, “Among the second round of megaprojects, we focused funding approval on projects with significant spillover effects on the advanced industrial ecosystem and the national economy, such as capital for building next-generation bio and vaccine facilities and supporting research and development (R&D), and capital increases for the development of domestic AI semiconductors.”

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