Naver and NC Soft Out: Who Leads the South Korea Government AI Foundation Model Race?
Naver and NC Soft were eliminated from the South Korea government AI foundation model project on Jan 15, 2026. LG, SKT, and Upstage proceed. Here's why originality mattered.
The race for South Korea's national AI has its first casualties, and they're industry heavyweights. On January 15, 2026, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that consortiums led by Naver Cloud and NC AI have been eliminated from the government-led competition to develop the nation's homegrown AI foundation models.
South Korea Government AI Foundation Model: First Round Winners
With the goal of becoming one of the world's top three AI powerhouses, the government is pouring resources into establishing a sovereign AI infrastructure. The three teams that cleared the first hurdle are led by LG AI Research, SK Telecom, and Upstage. LG emerged as the frontrunner, receiving the highest marks in mathematical capability and knowledge depth.
Naver's Shock Exit and the 'Qwen' Controversy
The most striking news was the elimination of Naver, often considered Korea's AI leader. Experts pointed out a lack of originality, alleging the model incorporated weights from China's Qwen model. Ryu Je-myung, Second Vice Science Minister, didn't hold back, stating that simply using pre-trained weights is like "piggybacking on others' work."
Authors
Related Articles
Cohere and Aleph Alpha are merging to build a transatlantic AI challenger valued at $20 billion. Their pitch: sovereignty, not just performance. Can it work?
Naver and NCsoft were eliminated from South Korea's national AI foundation model competition on Jan 15, 2026. LG and SKT advance as the ministry prioritizes originality.
SK hynix posted its first 100-trillion-won quarter, with an 80% operating margin. Micron's GAAP margin was 1.0pp higher; TSMC and Samsung were in the 50% range.
Five stories from late September, traced to where the paper trail stops: Korea's export record, Nvidia's Hugging Face 8-K, a US-China AI channel, the UN on AI, and rising births.
Cohere and Aleph Alpha are merging to build a transatlantic AI challenger valued at $20 billion. Their pitch: sovereignty, not just performance. Can it work?
Naver and NCsoft were eliminated from South Korea's national AI foundation model competition on Jan 15, 2026. LG and SKT advance as the ministry prioritizes originality.
SK hynix posted its first 100-trillion-won quarter, with an 80% operating margin. Micron's GAAP margin was 1.0pp higher; TSMC and Samsung were in the 50% range.
Five stories from late September, traced to where the paper trail stops: Korea's export record, Nvidia's Hugging Face 8-K, a US-China AI channel, the UN on AI, and rising births.
Thoughts
Share your thoughts on this article
Sign in to join the conversation