The Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) is moving to cultivate world-class AI and semiconductor convergence talent to support the national AI and chip strategy, in tandem with the 800 trillion won investment by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in the Honam-region semiconductor cluster.
According to GIST on Sunday, the institute has officially launched its AI College, an expansion and reorganization of its College of Information and Computing, and has begun full-scale operations.
This comes as the government recently announced a strategy to develop the southwestern region as a new hub for the AI and semiconductor industries, making the cultivation of core talent to support national AI competitiveness an important task.
Through the launch of the AI College, GIST plans to serve as a key hub that stably cultivates and supplies advanced talent in the AI and semiconductor fields, in step with this national strategy.
The GIST AI College is an organization expanded and reorganized based on the existing College of Information and Computing. From its launch, it has equipped an education and research platform with 990 enrolled students (472 undergraduate, 518 graduate). The AI College consists of the Department of AI, the Department of AX, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the Department of Semiconductor Engineering, and the AI Policy and Strategy Graduate School, operating an educational system that extends from the undergraduate level through master's and doctoral programs.
GIST plans to further advance its AI talent development pipeline through early talent discovery linked with AI gifted schools, integrated undergraduate-graduate education, and industry-tailored curricula.
In addition, starting from the 2027 academic year, the institute will expand undergraduate enrollment to a total of around 330 students, an increase of 100 from the previous year, further strengthening talent cultivation in advanced fields such as AI, semiconductors, and biotechnology.
"The AI College is not simply the creation of a new college, but the starting point of educational innovation to preemptively respond to the national AI and semiconductor strategy and industry demand," GIST President Lim Ki-cheol said. "GIST will establish itself as a key education and research hub supporting South Korea's AI and semiconductor ecosystem."
Meanwhile, the previous day, the government decided on the Gwangju military airport as the final site for the Honam-region semiconductor cluster, which is being pursued as a core project of the "three mega projects." Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will invest a combined 800 trillion won to build four semiconductor fabs on the Gwangju military airport site.
