South Korea unveils $576B+ plan for AI chips, data centers, and robots

South Korea announced a sweeping national investment plan on Monday, committing over $576 billion to cement its leadership in artificial intelligence and semiconductors. President Lee Jae Myung, flanked by the heads of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, outlined the "Three Mega Projects" — semiconductors, AI data centers, and physical AI — as the "triple axis for a great leap forward" Source: BBC.

Chip manufacturing expansion

The centerpiece is 800 trillion won ($518 billion) from Samsung and SK Hynix to build four new chip fabrication plants in the country's southwest, aiming to double South Korea's DRAM production within five years Source: Tom's Hardware. An additional 81 trillion won ($52.5 billion) is earmarked for a high-bandwidth memory packaging cluster in the Chungcheong region Source: AP News. The government intends to fast-track permits and cut construction timelines by up to 12 years Source: The Next Web.

AI data centers and robotics

Separately, SK Group, GS Group, and Naver will invest 550 trillion won ($356 billion) to build 8.4 GW of AI data center capacity by 2029, with plans to reach 18.4 GW by 2035 Source: Al Jazeera. The third pillar targets humanoid robots: the government aims to grow South Korea's global humanoid market share from 1% to 20% and will seed demand by purchasing robots for public-sector use Source: Ars Technica.

Political controversy

Critics have accused President Lee of directing investment to the Honam region, his political stronghold, rather than allowing market-driven site selection Source: CNN. Lee defended the choice, citing untapped renewable energy and the need to decentralize industry from Seoul.