Last year, in response to DeepSec's findings, the vision of "Seoul, a leading global AI city" was presented at "AI SEOUL."
Strengthening the investment base with AI talent development, high-performance GPU support, and the Vision 2030 Fund.
Launch of the 'Industrial AX Innovation Center'… Seoul-style implementation system, from demonstration to expansion, begins in earnest.
- The "Seoul-type Physical AI Belt" connecting Yangjae and Suseo will promote verification, regulatory reform, and enhance the industrial ecosystem.
– The vision for a "physical AI-friendly city" was unveiled at "AI SEOUL 2026" on the 30th… Discussion on the next steps in the AI transition.
Seoul has entered the "AI Industrial Transformation" phase, centered on artificial intelligence (AI), transforming the entire industrial and city structure. This is the result of a year of work to establish an AI transformation system that connects talent, infrastructure, investment, and industry, following the vision presented last year through "AI SEOUL 2025."
□ In the midst of the recent AI competition centered on global big tech companies with massive capital, the proliferation of low-cost, high-efficiency AI models and the resulting industrial restructuring have also bolstered this strategy. The Seoul Metropolitan Government explained that rather than competing in ultra-large-scale models, it is focusing its policy capabilities on building AI transformation models that actually work in industrial and urban settings.
Accordingly, Seoul's AI policy has shifted from a separate process of talent, infrastructure, investment, and demonstration to a system where planning, demonstration, and diffusion operate as a unified flow. This is significant because it shifts AI from a "target of adoption" to a "structural element driving industry and cities."
<AI Injae Yeon 1Establishing a training system for 10,000 people...교육 대학 Connected to industrial sites>
□ The city has established 'talent' as the most crucial foundation for the sustainable growth of the AI industry, and is building a system to train 1 AI talents annually.
□ To this end, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is strengthening universities' AI education and research capabilities through the Campus Town and RISE systems, while also establishing a practice-oriented AI talent development system centered around the Youth Employment Officer Academy.
○ In 2025, 114 AI education programs were operated in 20 university campus towns, with 6,900 participants, and 2,700 AI talents were trained in 24 universities and consortiums through the RISE system.
○ The Youth Employment Officer Academy, which completed the reorganization of its departments last year to focus on AI and the establishment of a "one campus per autonomous district" throughout Seoul, is currently operating 130 courses (for 3,300 students) across 25 campuses.
□ In addition, the Seoul AI Hub, a specialized institution for fostering AI technology startups, , We are also cultivating high-level talents to meet industrial demands through these programs.
투자·By expanding the space AI Strengthening the foundation for corporate growth>
With this talent development system in place, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is focusing its policy efforts on fostering an environment where talent and companies can implement and grow their technologies. The city is simultaneously strengthening its GPU (high-performance computing infrastructure) and research and investment infrastructure, both of which are essential for AI companies to advance their technologies and enter the market. In 2025, the city will invest KRW 5 million from the original budget and KRW 15 billion from the supplementary budget, providing cloud-based GPU usage support to a total of 86 AI startups.
Research and development (R&D) support has also been expanded. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has expanded its R&D support in AI and AI+X to 70 projects and a total of 130 billion won, establishing a research foundation that spans from core technologies to industrial applications. This support, in conjunction with private investment, is playing a role in promoting technology validation and commercialization.
On the investment front, the "AI Transformation" category was established within the "Seoul Vision 2030 Fund," creating a total AI fund of KRW 2,625 billion, including a KRW 150 billion investment from the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Additional funds are planned for this year, bringing the total fund size to KRW 5,000 billion, ensuring AI companies can secure the necessary funding at each stage of their growth.
□ In addition, we plan to promote the creation of a "Seoul AI Tech City" centered around the Yangjae area, combining research, startups, businesses, and culture, and create a core hub for technology verification and industrial application.
<Industrial site AI Accelerate the transition...'산업 AX Innovation Center', 'AI Graduate School Council' sailing>
□ In response to growing concerns about the difficulty of identifying a starting point and method for applying AI in industrial settings, the city opened the "Industry AX Innovation Center" last November. The Industrial AX Innovation Center is an implementation hub that supports the entire process, from process diagnosis to AI application model design, validation, and deployment, starting with real-world corporate problems.
○ The 'Seoul AI Innovation Council', launched on the same day, is an industry-academic cooperation governance in which 10 AI (convergence) graduate schools, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, Hanyang University, and KAIST, participate. It serves as a strategic advisory body that supports the transition to industrial AX through research advice, empirical linkage, and joint research in response to the needs of industrial sites.
□ To this end, the city invested 10 billion won in the 2025 supplementary budget, conducted AX conversion technology verification for 20 companies, and laid the foundation to increase the possibility of commercialization.
○ Among the companies that actually received support, a company that introduced AI to its children's clothing shopping mall applied a system that automatically recommended products, which resulted in a 64% increase in sales, a 95% reduction in work time, and a more than doubling of site stay time.
○ Another company attracted 2 million won in investment by building a design platform that automatically generates images using AI, and a startup that visualizes interior designs using AI is increasing its business competitiveness by reducing production time by more than half.
Joint research with global research institutions is also underway. Since 2023, a joint AI startup research program has been underway between Canada's Mila AI Institute and Seoul AI Hub resident companies (seven in 2024 and seven in 2025). This program aims to foster a structure where overseas research results lead to technological advancements for Seoul companies.
<CES 화두 'physical AI'...Seoul, foreign dressmaking·Robot-friendly city connecting Suseo and Suseo begins in earnest>
□ With 'Physical AI' emerging as a key topic at this year's CES, the city of Seoul has begun building an urban environment where AI operates in physical spaces.
The city is currently promoting the establishment of a "Seoul-type Physical AI Belt" linking the AI research and industry hub in Yangjae with the robotics and mobility hub in Suseo, connecting technology development, validation, and urban application. This will lay the foundation for physical AI technologies like robotics, autonomous driving, and smart logistics to be tested and expanded in real-world urban spaces.
○ We plan to gradually promote on-site verification of physical AI technologies, such as autonomous robots, service robots, and smart logistics, utilizing the water robot test bed and urban demonstration space, and link the results of the demonstration with institutional improvements and city-wide expansion.
[Main achievements]
<AI SEOUL 2026 개최...'Transition beyond introduction' Discussion notice>
□ Based on the implementation results of the past year, the city will hold the global AI conference 'AI SEOUL 2026' at COEX on Friday, January 30th.
○ Pre-registration is available through the 'AI Seoul 2026' website, and on-site registration will also be available on the day of the event.
(https://aiseoul2026.com/kr)
□ Under the theme of 'The Transformation Era: Beyond Adoption,' this conference will feature the participation of world-renowned AI scholars and industry leaders, with discussions focusing on the structural changes and challenges facing industries and cities following the spread of AI technology.
At the opening ceremony, Professor Yoshua Bengio of the University of Montreal will deliver a congratulatory address emphasizing the importance of a responsible AI transition for people and society. Following this, global AI experts, including Professors Peter Norvig and Daphne Koller, will deliver keynote speeches on industry, society, and urban policy.
□ In particular, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon plans to present a comprehensive strategy and implementation direction to move Seoul toward becoming a city where AI truly operates across talent, industry, and the city. Through AI SEOUL 2026, he will present a new urban vision called "Seoul, a Physical AI-Friendly City" and lead the way in establishing next-generation urban models.
□ Lee Soo-yeon, the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Economic Affairs Director, said, “Seoul has been steadily building AI talent, infrastructure, investment, and industrial transformation implementation systems over the past year,” and added, “AI SEOUL 2026 will be a place to build on these achievements, discuss the next steps of AI transformation with global scholars, and present a future vision of ‘Seoul, a physical AI-friendly city. ’”