KAIST President Bae Choong-sik Prioritizes Physical AI for National Growth

The president of South Korea's top public university for science, engineering and technology said the next "winning move" for the school lies in physical artificial intelligence (AI), as he vowed to create national wealth by supporting research and development in the technology.

Bae Choong-sik, president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), made the remarks at a press conference held Monday, the first such event since his nomination in June.

"The role of KAIST is advancing the country's manufacturing capabilities, while at the same time, creating national wealth through physical AI and strengthening South Korea as the major power in the field," he said at the conference.

The president's comments come as KAIST and Nvidia Corp. agreed last month to establish a joint AI research center, which the school said was Asia's first major AI lab with the U.S. chip giant.

The center will focus on developing next-generation agentic AI models specializing in the Korean language and local industries, the school said.

During the conference, Bae outlined five initiatives he plans to accomplish during his four-year term running until 2030.

Among them is transforming the school's curriculum to prepare students for the AI era by strengthening education in liberal arts and basic sciences, as well as entrepreneurship.

The school also plans to boost internationalization by attracting more foreign students and increasing the involvement of international scholars in thesis reviews, Bae said.

"I think the level of our professors is already at the global top. ... My goal is to leverage that momentum to bring the school to the world's top position," he added.

KAIST ranked 65th place in the QS World Universities rankings for 2027. It remained within the top 15 in the QS regional evaluation targeting universities in Asia.