Korea's top R&D feats in 2024: AI chips, quantum technologies
Progress in artificial intelligence (AI) chips and quantum technologies has been recognized as the top achievements in Korea's research and development (R&D) efforts for 2024, raising hopes that these advancements could serve as a cornerstone for the nation's technological breakthroughs that can reshape the national economy and society.
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| A child looks into a mockup of a quantum computer displayed at Seoul Science Center in Nowon District, Seoul, July 30. ( Source: Korea Times) |
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) on Sunday announced this year’s top R&D achievements in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, as part of an evaluation of the government’s 2024 investments worth 1 trillion won ($677.5 million) to assist businesses and research institutions.
In terms of technological progress, the government said domestic chipmakers made noteworthy progress in developing low-power AI processors that can challenge the global dominance of Nvidia.
Rebellions, an AI accelerator developer boosted by the government’s 5.51 billion won R&D assistance, successfully began the mass production of its neural processing unit (NPU), ATOM, this year. It gained international attention for its ability to accelerate AI inference with low power consumption.
Rebellions achieved approximately 20 billion won in mass-production sales as of September 2023 across the world and became a unicorn company - an unlisted company valued over $1 billion — following its merger with SAPEON, another domestic AI chipmaker, this month.
Another startup, FuriosaAI, developed the Renegade, an inference-focused NPU semiconductor. The Renegade boasts over 60 percent higher energy efficiency compared to Nvidia's L40S while being half its price. The company is now accelerating its commercialization efforts.
In March, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology developed the world’s first Complementary-Transformer AI semiconductor chip that can process a GPT-2 model with an ultra-low power consumption of 400 milliwatts and a high speed of 0.4 seconds.
In the fields of quantum technology, the government said the country has witnessed visible achievements in the fields of quantum communication and sensing this year after investing 36.9 billion won so far.
The nation became the third in the world to successfully transmit quantum information over a real-world optical fiber network spanning 16.4 kilometers. Researchers at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute demonstrated this technology by distributing quantum entanglement over distances exceeding 100 kilometers in September.
A number of notable achievements were also reported in the field of digital infrastructure.
SOLiD, which participated in the government’s telecommunications R&D projects, became the world’s third-biggest company in the distributed antenna system (DAS) market, achieving a 14 percent market share. SOLiD exported its DAS solutions to high-profile international projects, including the London Underground in England, the Olympic Stadium in France and the Catalonia Stadium in Spain.
“Technologies in the fields of AI, AI chips and networks are key sovereign technologies that will determine not only the nation's competitiveness but also its survival in the time of AI transformation,” IITP President Hong Jin-bae said.
“IITP will spare no efforts for innovative R&D planning, evaluation and management, fostering collaboration between industry, academia and research organizations to ensure that R&D outcomes extend beyond mere research to deliver globally recognized achievements.”
(Source: Korea Times)
