South Korea Aims to Develop Homegrown ChatGPT
South Korea is set to embark on the development of its own version of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot initially created by US-based OpenAI. Acting President Choi Sang-mok announced this initiative on Thursday, highlighting the government's commitment to provide extensive support for research and development in this field. The goal is to place South Korea among the top three AI powerhouses globally.
Data Protection Concerns
Recent developments have raised concerns about data protection in the AI domain. South Korea's data protection regulator confirmed issues with the DeepSeek chatbot, developed by a Chinese AI startup, which reportedly shared user data with the Chinese entity behind TikTok, ByteDance. In response, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) of South Korea temporarily halted new downloads of DeepSeek within the country due to worries regarding its data collection practices.
During a high-level committee meeting focused on advancing the country's AI capabilities, Choi emphasized the evolving landscape of the global AI race. He noted the substantial investments made by leading AI players worldwide in enhancing AI infrastructure. The emergence of DeepSeek, a large AI model developed by a Chinese startup, is seen as both a potential risk and an opportunity for South Korea, which is striving to catch up in this sector.
To strengthen its AI prowess, the South Korean government aims to acquire 10,000 high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) within the current year. This move is significant as of the end of 2023, South Korea only had around 2,000 GPUs, a vital component for AI development. Choi assured that the government will allocate considerable GPU resources and research funding to ensure the country's leadership in AI innovation.
This incident marks the first time the regulator has acknowledged potential data leaks by DeepSeek to a third party. According to South Korean regulations, explicit user consent is mandatory if their personal information is transmitted to an external entity.
