South Korea’s prime science and engineering college will launch a stand-alone synthetic intelligence college in 2026, a transfer aimed toward quickly increasing the nation’s capability to prepare AI specialists amid intensifying competitors for global talent.
According to the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, the KAIST board accepted the creation of the brand new AI college at a gathering on Thursday, with pupil recruitment set to start subsequent yr.
KAIST mentioned the initiative marks the primary time a Korean college has elevated AI to an unbiased college-level unit.
The new college will considerably enhance KAIST’s AI training capability. The college plans to enroll a complete of 300 college students yearly, together with 100 undergraduates and 200 graduate college students, with the latter cut up between grasp’s (150) and doctoral (50) packages, in accordance to KAIST. Overall, pupil quotas on the college might be expanded by the identical quantity to accommodate the brand new consumption.
The AI college will comprise 4 departments protecting the total AI worth chain, from core software program and {hardware} to industrial functions and societal affect:
- The AI Computing Department will concentrate on foundational principle, algorithms, arithmetic and programs that underpin trendy AI fashions. Government and college briefings mentioned the curriculum will embody current advances reminiscent of generative AI, multimodal AI, which integrates textual content, pictures and different knowledge sorts, and agent-based AI programs that may autonomously plan and act.
- The AI Systems Department will prepare {hardware} specialists, with coursework spanning AI semiconductors, high-speed communications and energy and thermal administration. These areas are vital for operating large-scale AI fashions effectively, significantly in knowledge facilities and edge units.
- The AX, or AI Transformation, Department will emphasize sensible deployment, making use of AI instantly to manufacturing, content material, bio and supplies science and sustainability challenges throughout trade and society.
- The AI Futures Department will concentrate on ethics, coverage, economics and governance, inspecting how AI reshapes regulation, labor markets and public establishments.
Undergraduate packages will start in the spring semester of 2026. Because KAIST operates a department-free system in the primary yr, college students advancing to their second yr might be in a position to select one of many 4 AI majors as their major discipline of research, the college mentioned. Graduate packages will open in the autumn semester of 2026, with detailed admissions quotas by division to be finalized later primarily based on analysis demand.
The science ministry mentioned the KAIST initiative is a part of a broader nationwide coverage to safe main AI applied sciences and talent. Beginning in 2027, comparable AI schools are deliberate at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, every aligned with regional strategic industries, in accordance to the ministry.
The transfer comes as KAIST good points stronger global recognition in AI. In ShanghaiRanking Consultancy’s 2025 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, which launched AI as a standalone discipline for the primary time, KAIST ranked No. 39 worldwide.
By Moon Joon-hyun ([email protected])