PNU Secures KRW 15 Billion in Government Funding to Bring AI In-House

[Financial News] Pusan National University (PNU) announced on the 22nd that it had been selected for the 2026 Regional Intelligent Innovation Talent Development Project, led by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP).
The project will run for eight years starting this year, with total funding of up to KRW 18 billion, including up to KRW 15 billion in government support. PNU will apply the university's advanced research capabilities to industry and support local companies in bringing AI in-house and achieving technological self-reliance so they can independently develop and operate AI systems.
Industry-academic research will focus on three strategic areas reflecting demand from industries in the southeastern region. Smart manufacturing AI research will cover defect detection, document-work automation and robot control. Smart port and maritime AI research will address terminal operation planning optimization and intelligent production of marine equipment. The industrial AI platform will involve developing on-device AI and language models that leverage corporate knowledge.
The research will involve 17 PNU professors and 14 leading small and medium-sized companies from the southeastern region, including Sungwoo Hitech, SNT Motiv, Total Soft Bank, Panasia, Cuckoo Electronics and Gamba Labs.
[email protected] Baek Chang-hoon Reporter