The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is set to establish a research laboratory dedicated to artificial intelligence development in Seoul, South Korea. Kim Man-ki, chairman of the Seoul AI Foundation, said in an interview with JoongAng Ilbo that MIT’s Senseable City Lab and the Seoul metropolitan government will sign a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday to formalize the partnership.
The Global AI Lab will be located in the Mapo district and will manage three to five projects focused on “urban AI” applications. The facility will employ 10 MIT-trained Ph.D. researchers to lead initiatives jointly selected by the Seoul government and the university. Seoul will be the sixth city to host a Senseable City Lab, joining Dubai, Stockholm, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore and Amsterdam.
The Seoul AI Foundation, a city-established organization, supports the capital’s AI policy and development projects. “Thanks to Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s early vision for AI strategy, Seoul has been able to incorporate AI into public administration and even establish ethical guidelines for its use,” said Kim. “If the central government focuses on infrastructure such as data centers and computing power, the Seoul metropolitan government will focus on AI applications and services so that more citizens can benefit from the technology.”
The announcement comes as Seoul continues to build its innovation ecosystem, including a recent partnership with SEALSQ to establish a research center for quantum-resistant cryptography.
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