South Korea Targets ‘World’s Highest-Performance’ Sovereign AI Model in Record Budget

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung unveiled a record 2027 budget of 820.9 trillion won ($610.14 billion), with a major push into AI and semiconductors. A separate 4.7 trillion won is earmarked to develop a sovereign AI model that Lee says will have the “world’s highest performance.” Another 21.3 trillion won is allocated to semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers, while the government plans to train 2,000 specialists in semiconductor design. Total spending rises 12.8% from 2026 as Seoul seeks to expand