South korea to invest 5 trillion won to boost AI adoption in small and medium manufacturers

The South Korean government has announced a plan to invest at least 5 trillion won by 2030 to support small and medium-sized manufacturers in adopting physical AI. This initiative, part of the '3X Strategy' combining digitalization, AI, and robotics, aims to increase AI adoption rates among these firms from 1% to 10%. The strategy also targets expanding the number of AI-adopting companies from 600 to 6,000 and digital transformation adopters from 18,000 to 30,000. The government will support companies in building smart factories, upgrading equipment, and integrating AI and digital twin technologies into production. It also plans to deploy manufacturing robots to over 1,000 firms by 2030. Additionally, it will foster 500 specialized AI manufacturing companies and promote a 'Universal AI Plant Manager' system for automated operations. The government will also allow companies to use data as physical capital for government-backed projects and upgrade the KAMP platform to 'Manufacturing AI24'.