[AI Prism] Domestic AI companies “toward an open ecosystem”... Lisa Su “Let’s go together” (Comprehensive 2nd edition)

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Hayoung Kwon = AMD Chairman Lisa Su is joining hands with 13 domestic artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor companies to build a heterogeneous AI infrastructure that combines AMD's central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) with domestic AI semiconductors.

By demonstrating heterogeneous computing infrastructure in Korea, we will develop it into a reference model that can be used in the global market, and we will also support domestic companies' participation in the AMD open source software platform ROCm ecosystem and overseas expansion.

Plans to establish an AI research base in Korea that will attract hundreds of AI researchers have also been specified.

This cooperation is a follow-up to the business agreement (MOU) signed between the Ministry of Science and ICT and AMD in July, and is focused on establishing the AMD AI Research Center (CoE) and nurturing AI and artificial intelligence (AX) talent, and connecting the domestic AI semiconductor ecosystem with AMD's global AI ecosystem in earnest.

◇ Combining domestic AI semiconductors with AMD CPUs and GPUs… Create a global reference

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 7th that it held a meeting with 13 domestic AI semiconductor ecosystem companies following a meeting between Second Vice Minister Ryu Je-myeong and AMD Chairman Lisa Su at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul.

This event was prepared as a follow-up to the business agreement (MOU) signed between the Ministry of Science and ICT and AMD on the occasion of President Lee Jae-myung's San Francisco AI Summit last July.

Accordingly, the two sides decided to pursue existing cooperation tasks without disruption, such as establishing a CoE within the year and nurturing graduate school talent in the AI ​​and artificial intelligence conversion (AX) fields.

In addition, in connection with the domestic demonstration project, it was decided to build a heterogeneous computing infrastructure that utilizes AMD's central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) and domestic AI semiconductors.

The plan is to develop this into a reference model that can be used in the global market rather than just staying in the country.

Chairman Lisa Su elaborated on the plan to establish a CoE and said, "We plan to hire hundreds of AI researchers to not only advance AI technology but also contribute to supporting Korea's AI ecosystem."

Industry-academia cooperation plans, such as the MOU recently signed with Seoul National University's AI Research Institute, were also introduced.

He also emphasized that he is expanding computing capacity so that domestic AI startups and general users can more easily utilize AI, and that he has built the first cloud facility in collaboration with Mango Boost, a domestic AI infrastructure company.

Vice Minister Ryu Je-myeong expressed gratitude to AMD for quickly carrying out its promises after signing the MOU in July, and requested expanded cooperation, saying, "Creating an open AI computing ecosystem is a direction that the Korean industry, government, and AMD agree on."

As the AI ​​inference market grows, AMD, a key player in the semiconductor ecosystem, has requested active cooperation with domestic neural network processing unit (NPU) startups.

The two sides also broadly discussed major issues in the global AI industry, changes in the AI ​​computing market, and future directions for cooperation.

◇ 13 companies, including Rebellion and Furiosa AI, gather... Cooperation between ROCm and global expansion

Chairman Lisa Su's visit to Korea also provided an opportunity for domestic AI semiconductor and AI ecosystem companies to meet directly with AMD's top management and explore possibilities for cooperation.

Thirteen domestic companies covering all areas of AI infrastructure, including domestic neural network processing units (NPUs), software, memory/storage, networks, clouds, and AI models, attended the meeting.

These include Furiosa AI, Hyper Excel, Deep

In her opening remarks at the meeting, Chairman Lisa Su said that AMD is focusing on AI and the gamer ecosystem, and evaluated that the pace of AI technology development over the past six months has been very fast. He went on to say, “AMD’s principles are always open ecosystem and collaboration,” and introduced that it is already collaborating with some of the participating companies.

He added that he attaches special importance to collaboration with startups, adding, "We have invested in hundreds of startups around the world, and we believe that AMD can also learn a lot through such interactions."

Participating companies discussed ways to connect AMD's CPU and GPU with domestically produced AI semiconductors, as well as ways to participate in the ROCm ecosystem, an open source-based AI and high-performance computing software platform.

Cooperation plans to support domestic AI semiconductor companies' entry into the global market and ideas for connecting each company's technology and services with AMD's global AI ecosystem were also shared.

◇ “Open participation suitable for diversifying reasoning”… Proposals for specific cooperation between companies

In the free discussion, participating company representatives proposed specific cooperation plans based on their respective technologies and businesses and shared their opinions directly with Chairman Lisa Su.

NPU companies such as Furiosa AI, HyperXcel, and Mobilint asked about participating in the open ecosystem, saying that as inference workloads become more diverse, various types of chips will be needed.

In response, Chairman Lisa Su responded that AMD's philosophy is to allow users to easily select the desired hardware, whether GPU or other accelerator, through ROCm, and that they are open to cooperation connecting CPUs and various accelerators.

Ravelup CEO Shin Jeong-gyu said that the burden of computing not only on GPU but also on CPU is increasing due to the spread of agent-type AI, and asked about plans for integrated optimization of CPU and GPU. Chairman Lisa Su responded that they will support the entire product line, from GPU for data centers to PC chips and CPU.

Kim Seong-hoon, CEO of Upstage, requested support for software engineers and a joint research base in Korea, and Chairman Lisa Su praised the excellence of Korean talent, saying that a CoE with hundreds of engineers participating will be established in Korea over the next few years.

In response to a question from Kim Nok-won, CEO of DeepX, about physical AI strategy, he responded, “It will be a very important field over the next 3 to 5 years,” and that he will work with the recently acquired World Labs to create a reference design that encompasses hardware and solutions so that customers can easily utilize it.

Kim Joo-young, CEO of HyperXcel, suggested that as accelerators, networks, and software companies come together, they should work together to build a 'Sovereign AI Infrastructure' to fill the shortage of CPUs and learning GPUs in Korea through an open ecosystem with AMD.

Lee Do-gyu, head of the Information and Communication Policy Department at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said in a briefing immediately after the meeting that day, "There was a consensus that innovation in the AI ​​ecosystem is achieved through openness rather than monopoly."

In the case of the CoE, working-level discussions are underway with the goal of establishing it within the year, and the steering committee plans to discuss specific locations next month.

In the past, AMD's CoE was mainly established in markets with strategic needs such as investment, but this is the first case of a new company being established without such a premise, and AMD plans to invest in the hardware needed for the CoE, he explained.

Director Lee explained that the government is also pursuing a similar plan regarding the Sovereign AI infrastructure plan proposed by HyperExcel.

He said that he is planning a large-scale reference construction project using domestic semiconductors such as NPU next year, and that it will be a method of verifying the full stack including software, breaking away from the existing chip-by-chip supply method.

There is no specific proposal yet regarding the possibility of AMD participating in this project, but he added that participation is possible as there are no plans to exclude specific companies.

When asked at this meeting whether AMD expressed its intention to supply computing infrastructure, including the latest GPUs, to domestic companies first or on a large scale, it was reported that no specific volume level was mentioned.

Chairman Lisa Su cited Korea as an important cooperation partner for AMD and said, "As Korea increases its competitiveness in the AI ​​field, AMD and excellent domestic companies will create new opportunities for cooperation together."

He also added, "As AMD has been expanding connections between various technologies and companies based on an open ecosystem, we will actively cooperate with Korean companies with excellent technology to help connect them to the global AI ecosystem."

Vice Minister Ryu said, "Starting with today's meeting, we hope that AMD's global capabilities and our company's technological prowess will be combined to create new AI technologies and businesses, and serve as an opportunity for the domestic AI semiconductor ecosystem to grow one step further."

Meanwhile, Chairman Lisa Su also had a private meeting with Ha Jung-woo, full-time vice chairman of the National AI Strategy Committee, at the same location this morning.

Vice-Chairman Ha, who met with Chairman Su as Senior Secretary for AI Future at the Blue House during his first visit to Korea in March, reportedly took advantage of Chairman Su's return visit to congratulate the new Vice-Chairman on his inauguration and exchanged opinions on the future direction of cooperation in the AI ​​field.