Tech giant Google will establish its inaugural artificial intelligence campus in Seoul, South Korea, according to a presidential policy adviser who announced the partnership on Monday.
The collaboration was formalized during a meeting between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis in Seoul. Presidential adviser Kim Yong-beom confirmed that the Science Ministry and Google signed a memorandum of understanding to move forward with the groundbreaking facility.
This marks the first AI campus of its kind that Google has committed to building anywhere in the world, Kim noted. The facility is designed to strengthen ties between Google’s technical teams and South Korea’s engineering community and startup ecosystem.
During negotiations, South Korean officials asked Google to station a minimum of 10 engineers from its U.S. headquarters at the new Seoul campus. Hassabis indicated he would review this request, according to Kim’s statement.
The Google DeepMind leader expressed enthusiasm about the educational opportunities the partnership would create. “To help with training up the next generation in these amazing technologies through internships at our AI hub and other training programmes,” Hassabis said of his hopes for the collaboration.
Hassabis also outlined plans to strengthen Google’s relationships with major Korean corporations, including Samsung, SK Hynix, Hyundai’s Boston Dynamics division, and LG. He said DeepMind aims to “instigate new joint projects” with these industry leaders.
The Google executive praised South Korea’s technological infrastructure, calling it a “great industrial base” that excels in crucial AI development areas spanning from semiconductor manufacturing to robotics innovation.
During their discussion, President Lee and Hassabis explored AI’s future trajectory and its potential effects on society. Lee specifically brought up concerns about employment displacement due to AI advancement, suggesting the need for basic income protections for workers who might lose jobs to automation.
Hassabis reflected on South Korea’s significance in AI history, referencing the landmark 2014 match between DeepMind’s AlphaGo system and Korean Go champion Lee Sedol. He described that historic competition as marking “the beginning of the modern AI era” and spurring numerous technological breakthroughs, including DeepMind’s protein-folding research through the AlphaFold system.
