NVIDIA and KAIST will establish a joint artificial intelligence (AI) research institute. It will be the first AI research institute jointly founded by a U.S. big tech company and a Korean university. NVIDIA is also in discussions with Seoul National University on the establishment of a Physical AI joint research institute. These announcements on collaboration with Korean universities were made public one day before President Lee Jae-myung is scheduled to meet NVIDIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang in San Francisco, United States.

According to NVIDIA and KAIST on the 24th, the new institute will be set up at the Seoul campus of the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI at KAIST, and a total of USD 300 million (approximately KRW 434 billion) in support will be provided over five years. Using NVIDIA’s open AI model “Nemotron,” as well as graphics processing units (GPUs) and software, the research team plans to develop AI specialized in the Korean language and Korean industries. The main focus area will be “agentic AI,” in which AI goes beyond simple question-and-answer functions to set its own goals, select the necessary tools, and carry out tasks. Dr. Kim Hyun-woo, a former NVIDIA researcher, will assume the position of co-director of the joint research institute at the end of August.

NVIDIA will provide state-of-the-art AI computing resources worth USD 50 million (approximately KRW 73.4 billion) annually through domestic cloud partners. It will offer internship opportunities each year to more than 10 KAIST researchers, with plans to hire outstanding talent as full-time employees. CEO Huang expressed his intention to cooperate with KAIST at the APEC CEO Summit last year. After about 10 months of discussions, the talks have borne fruit in the form of establishing the joint research institute.

On the same day, Seoul National University also announced that it is “in discussions to establish a Joint Lab with the AI Technology Center (NVAITC), NVIDIA’s global university collaboration network.” Seoul National University explained that the significance lies in the fact that it will engage in multi-year, comprehensive cooperation with NVIDIA in various areas including AI research, talent development, education, and infrastructure.

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