[AI Pick] Domestic NPU joins hands with NVIDIA to target the global AI market

Domestic neural network processing unit (NPU) has laid the foundation for entry into the global market by linking with NVIDIA's global artificial intelligence (AI) computing system.

The Ministry of Science and ICT supported the signing of the 'NV Link Fusion Cooperation Agreement (MoU)' between the three companies, NVIDIA, SK Telecom, and Rebellion, at the NVIDIA 'AI Day' event held at COEX in Seoul on the 9th, and held the 'AI Startup Partnership Forum' with NVIDIA.

This agreement is the result of the NV Link Fusion-based domestic NPU linkage project promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and NVIDIA.

In the process of SK Telecom [017670] building an AI data center (AIDC), the key is to implement a heterogeneous computing system that uses Rebellion's NPU and NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU) based on NVLink Fusion, NVIDIA's open interconnection platform.

Attending the signing ceremony were Do-gyu Lee, Director of the Information and Communication Policy Office of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Raymond Tee, Senior Vice President of NVIDIA, Seok-geun Jeong, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of SK Telecom, and Sung-hyun Park, CEO of Rebellion.

NVLink Fusion is a platform that supports combining accelerators from external companies into NVIDIA computing systems.

The Ministry of Science and ICT evaluated that the domestically produced NPU is meaningful in that it goes beyond the development of independent technology and combines it with the system architecture of NVIDIA, which leads the global AI computing market.

It is expected that domestic semiconductor companies will be able to use the global platform as a stepping stone to expand the scope of product use and secure technology verification and commercialization opportunities in the global market.

The Ministry of Science and ICT previously promoted cooperation with AMD in a heterogeneous computing ecosystem, and as cooperation with NVIDIA has become concrete, domestically produced NPUs can be implemented in various AI infrastructure environments without being dependent on a specific company or platform.

The government plans to support this cooperation so that it extends beyond Rebellion to other domestic NPU companies.

Going beyond technology development and performance advancement, we decided to support the overseas competitiveness of domestically produced AI semiconductors by creating an ecosystem that leads to verification, commercialization, and export.

Meanwhile, at the event on the same day, the 'AI Startup Partnership Forum' was also prepared to help domestic startups expand their contacts with NVIDIA and expand into overseas markets.

Nvidia's Vice President Deepu Tala and Vice President Jonathan Cohen attended the forum, and 22 major domestic AI startups, including Upstage, Real World, Twelve Labs, Furiosa AI, and Rebellion, participated.

Director Lee Do-gyu said, "The competitiveness of the AI ​​industry goes beyond the development of individual technologies and can grow further when various capabilities are connected and converged. We hope that our companies will discover opportunities for technological and business cooperation with NVIDIA and further advance into the global market together."