POSCO, GS Join Consortium Bidding for Korea's AI Foundation Model Project

POSCO Group, Korea's sixth-largest conglomerate, and GS Group, the tenth-largest, have entered the government's initiative to develop an indigenous AI foundation model, sources confirmed.

According to Seoul Economic Daily's reporting on the 13th, POSCO Holdings and GS Group's 52g have joined the Trillion Labs consortium, which submitted a bid for the Ministry of Science and ICT's foundation model project. The consortium also includes venture firms and startups such as Exem, AIM Intelligence, Vessl AI, Mobilint, and Holiday Robotics.

Trillion Labs has secured two top-10 conglomerates as allies in forming its consortium. POSCO Holdings, the group's holding company, will participate as a core member and contribute to AI model development. The company is expected to play a pivotal role in designing AI models specialized for manufacturing, leveraging POSCO Group's industrial expertise.

52g serves as GS Group's dedicated organization for digital business innovation. Established in 2020 as a specialist unit within GS, 52g creates the blueprint for digital transformation and AI adoption across GS affiliates. Currently, employees from various GS subsidiaries participate in its operations. Although 52g is not a separately incorporated affiliate, GS Chairman Huh Tae-soo has attended multiple 52g gatherings, and senior executives from subsidiaries are involved in its management—indicating group-level commitment to the foundation model bid.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the previous day that two consortiums—Trillion Labs and Motif Technologies—submitted applications before the deadline for the re-opened bidding process. The ministry plans to select one consortium as the finalist this month. The selected team will then compete against the consortium comprising LG AI Research, SK Telecom, and Upstage.