S. Korea to speed up development of AI chip, UAM sectors

South Korea's finance ministry unveiled a set of measures Thursday to pave the way for the growth of the country's artificial intelligence chip and urban air mobility industries in line with efforts to foster new growth engines.

Under the plan, the country will speed up the establishment of data centers powered by homegrown AI chips and expand financial support for the development of such semiconductor products by fabless firms, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The move is aimed at expanding South Korean firms' presence in the global AI chip market, currently dominated by US-based Nvidia Corp.

South Korea also said it will establish a task force of government bodies to build a frequency exclusively for the UAM industry to take a leading role in setting global standards.

To speed up the development of self-driving cars, the government said it has revamped privacy laws to allow companies to utilize videos filmed by the automobiles to build a database.

The finance ministry added it plans to designate used EV batteries as a recyclable resource to seek sustainable growth, as current rules define them as disposable waste. (Yonhap)