South Korea to invest $166 million in AI chip startup Rebellions

SEOUL, March 26 (Reuters) - South Korea's industry ministry on Tuesday said the Financial Services Commission's advisory board approved a 250 billion won ($166 million) investment in a local artificial intelligence chip startup called Rebellions, part of a government-backed push to nurture a homegrown advanced semiconductor firm.

Here are some details:

• South Korea's Financial Services Commission advisory board, which evaluates investments in advanced strategic industries, approved a 250 billion won direct investment into Rebellions, an AI chip startup.

• Rebellions, founded in 2020, designs neural processing units (NPUs) that handle AI computations.

• The decision was made at a fund management committee meeting for the state-led "National Growth Fund," marking the first direct investment under the country's "K-Nvidia" initiative.

• The funding will support Rebellions' mass production of NPU chips and the development of next-generation AI semiconductors, the industry ministry said in a statement.

• The "K-Nvidia" project, jointly led by the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Science and ICT, seeks to nurture a globally competitive AI chip company amid intensifying competition in the sector, which is dominated by U.S. firms like Nvidia NVDA.O.

• The move underscores Seoul's efforts to strengthen its position in the AI supply chain and reduce reliance on foreign technology, as demand for high-performance computing chips surges.