Seoul: The South Korean government has announced plans to acquire 10,000 high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) within this year to expedite the establishment of a national artificial intelligence (AI) computing center, as stated by acting President Choi Sang-mok.

According to Yonhap News Agency, as of the end of 2023, South Korea had around 2,000 GPUs, which are essential for AI development. This move comes amid global competition over large-scale AI infrastructure projects, such as the Stargate Project in the United States. The GPUs to be acquired include Nvidia Corp.'s H100 and H200 models.

Acting President Choi highlighted the importance of public-private cooperation in securing the GPUs to launch the national AI computing center promptly. He made these remarks during a committee meeting focused on positioning South Korea as one of the world's top three AI powerhouses. The committee was formed to facilitate discussions between the government and the private sector.

GPUs are integral to AI, offering superior performance for AI training and inference. They provide substantial advantages in various applications that require accelerated computing.