KAIST

KAIST and NVIDIA establish Asia's first AI joint research lab between NVIDIA and a university to advance next-generation agentic AI tailored to the Korean language and domestic industries.

KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on July 24 that it will establish the NVIDIA-KAIST Joint AI Research Lab at the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI with the global AI computing giant NVIDIA. The two organizations will conduct joint research on next-generation core AI technologies.

"This collaboration marks the starting point of a strategic partnership between KAIST and NVIDIA that combines world-class AI research talent with cutting-edge AI infrastructure," said President Choongsik Bae. “We will build Korea's leading global AI research hub and lead the way in developing next-generation foundational AI technologies and cultivating world-class AI talent."

Through this partnership, KAIST and NVIDIA will build a joint research framework covering agentic AI models and systems specialized for the Korean language and Korean industries. The two organizations will build a long-term research collaboration framework to develop foundational AI technologies for Korea, cultivate global talent, and strengthen industrial competitiveness.

The NVIDIA-KAIST AI Joint Research Lab, to be established at the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, will operate as a global research hub developing agentic AI models and AI agent systems tailored to Korea's language and industrial needs.

The two organizations plan to combine NVIDIA’s full-stack AI technologies and Nemotron open models, and the computing infrastructure of local NVIDIA Cloud Partners with the world-class scientific talent at KAIST.

The $300 million collaboration will proceed over an initial five-year period, including $50 million per year in compute contributions. Researchers participating in the joint lab will gain access to the latest NVIDIA AI computing infrastructure through local NVIDIA Cloud Partners.

The joint lab will fund at least 10 KAIST researchers annually and provide each with internship opportunities at NVIDIA. In addition, NVIDIA plans to hire exceptional Korean researchers for full-time positions. Together, these efforts will create stronger pathways for Korea's top AI talent to pursue ambitious research, build long-term careers, and deepen global collaboration between academia and industry.

The joint lab will be led by Dr. Hyunwoo Kim, currently at NVIDIA, who will join the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI as a professor next month. Dr. Kim will set the lab's research direction and oversee collaboration between local and international researchers.

"Korea is home to leading AI researchers and has one of the world's most advanced technology ecosystems," said Bill Dally, chief scientist and senior vice president of research at NVIDIA. "The NVIDIA-KAIST AI Joint Research Lab will provide a foundation for pioneering the next frontier of AI research and accelerating the development of AI models and agent systems for Korea’s industries, language, and future"

Dr. Hyunwoo Kim, incoming faculty member at the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, who will serve as head of the joint NVIDIA-KAIST lab upon joining KAIST, said,

“AI research is entering a new era — one that requires frontier talent, large-scale infrastructure and deep collaboration across academia and industry.” He added, “Together, NVIDIA and KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI will pursue ambitious work that helps Korea attract and retain top AI scientists while building lasting ties with NVIDIA's global research organization.”

Song Chong, Head of the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, said, "This joint lab is a new industry-academia collaboration model that combines world-class research talent, AI infrastructure, and the research capabilities of a global company." He added, "We will develop core agentic AI technologies specialized for the Korean language and Korean industries and build an ecosystem where outstanding researchers can carry out world-class research from within Korea."

Check out NVIDIA's official blog post on this historic partnership here.