'AI to Run Cities Through Independent Decision-Making'... Yonsei University Launches Effort to Export 'K-AI City' with Global Institutions

[Financial News] An era is beginning in which artificial intelligence (AI) independently assesses and optimizes the administration and operation of entire cities, moving beyond individual services such as traffic-light control and traffic guidance. The Korean academic community has taken its first step toward developing a Korean-style AI city model, or K-AI City, with leading research institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the United Nations (UN), and disseminating it in global markets. Yonsei University’s Graduate School of Information and the Korea Society of IT Services announced on the 11th that they had officially launched Urban AI Asia, an Asian urban cooperation network, together with Urban AI, a global think tank specializing in urban artificial intelligence. They are also moving ahead with the establishment of the Korea Chapter, a Korea-centered implementation body.
Urban AI is an international think tank that brings together more than 200 experts and institutions worldwide to study AI technology and urban innovation. The partnership aims to establish, under Korea’s leadership, a standard for next-generation AI cities in which AI directly identifies and implements solutions to urban problems, moving beyond conventional smart cities where people manually review data and respond.
The participants particularly focused on the fundamental changes taking place in urban management as Agentic AI, which has recently drawn attention, and Physical AI combined with robots and autonomous vehicles become integrated with urban infrastructure.
Junghoon John Lee, chair of the Urban AI Asia steering committee and a professor at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of Information, emphasized, "As AI technology that can make decisions and act independently moves beyond generative AI and becomes more widespread, AI is no longer merely a technology for individual services. It is changing cities’ decision-making and operating systems themselves." He added, "Building on Korea’s long experience with smart cities, we will work with Asian countries to create a people-centered AI city model and share it with cities around the world."
Following the launch, Yonsei University and the Korea Society of IT Services will establish an international joint research platform with MIT, global consulting firm Bloomberg Associates, and UN-Habitat. Their cooperation will extend beyond academic research to field demonstrations that apply and test the technology in actual cities in Korea and abroad, as well as the development of global talent. The initiative is expected to provide a foothold for Korean IT, mobility, and infrastructure companies to enter overseas AI city development projects.
Government policy support is also being aligned with the initiative. Song Hye-ja, chair of the Regional Special Committee of the National AI Strategy Committee under the President, said, "To realize future mobility and K-AI City, we must integrate AI throughout urban infrastructure and operating systems to create safe and efficient cities of the future." She underscored the importance of global cooperation.
Meanwhile, Yonsei University recently held the Urban AI Symposium at Saemunan Hall on its Seoul Sinchon Campus to commemorate the launch of the alliance. The event brought together Urban AI founder Hubert Beroche and experts from Korea and abroad to discuss policy directions for a Korean-style AI city and ways to pursue global cooperation.

[email protected] Man-ki Kim Reporter