South Korea has unveiled plans to acquire 10,000 high-performance GPUs by the end of the year, aiming to strengthen its national AI computing capabilities.

Officials emphasised that global AI competition has escalated from corporate rivalries to clashes between nations' innovation ecosystems. Acting President Choi Sang-mok stated that public-private cooperation would be key to launching services at the country's national AI computing centre.

The initiative comes amid the US government's newly implemented restrictions on exporting AI chips, which categorise countries into tiers. South Korea remains exempt from these restrictions, allowing it access to advanced GPUs.

Details on the budget, specific GPU models, and private sector partners are expected to be finalised by September, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.

US-based Nvidia dominates the GPU market with an 80% share, with rivals Intel and AMD trailing behind. Meanwhile, OpenAI, supported by Microsoft, is developing its first in-house AI chip to reduce dependency on Nvidia.

Chinese startup DeepSeek has also entered the AI scene with models prioritising computational efficiency over raw processing power, potentially narrowing the technological gap with US-made processors.

As nations race to secure technological supremacy, South Korea's move signals its commitment to advancing its AI infrastructure and staying competitive in the global AI ecosystem.