S. Korea to develop homegrown ChatGPT amid DeepSeek data concerns

Seoul: South Korea has announced plans to develop its own version of ChatGPT, pledging full government support for artificial intelligence (AI) research and development. Acting President Choi Sang-mok made the commitment during a high-level committee meeting aimed at positioning the country among the world's top three AI powerhouses. The committee was formed to strengthen collaboration between the government and the private sector in advancing AI technology.

Choi emphasized that the global AI race has entered a critical phase, with major AI powerhouses investing heavily in AI infrastructure. He pointed to the emergence of DeepSeek, a large-scale AI model developed by a Chinese startup, as both a challenge and an opportunity for South Korea, which remains a latecomer in the AI sector. To accelerate progress, the government will provide large-scale support for the development of world-class AI models.

A key part of the initiative involves securing 10,000 high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) within this year, a significant increase from the country’s current 2,000 GPUs as of the end of 2023. These GPUs are crucial for AI model training and development. Choi reaffirmed the government’s commitment to providing substantial GPU resources and research funding to ensure South Korea’s leadership in AI innovation.

Meanwhile, concerns over data security have intensified following revelations about the DeepSeek chatbot. South Korea’s data protection regulator, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), confirmed that DeepSeek, developed by a China-based AI startup, transmitted user data to a third party, the Chinese owner of TikTok, ByteDance.

The regulator had already temporarily suspended new downloads of DeepSeek in South Korea due to concerns about its data collection practices. The latest confirmation marks the first official acknowledgment of potential user data leaks, highlighting legal concerns under South Korean law, which requires explicit user consent for data sharing with third parties.

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As South Korea accelerates efforts to develop its own AI models, the government remains focused on both technological advancement and data security, ensuring that domestic AI solutions align with global standards while safeguarding user privacy.

With IANS inputs