South Korea's AI Dream Hits Snag as Firms Rely on Chinese Code

South Korea's AI Ambitions Face Reality Check

A high-profile competition to create South Korea's "national AI team" has become embroiled in controversy after revelations that several finalists incorporated Chinese-developed code in their submissions. The situation highlights the complex realities of building artificial intelligence systems in an era of global open-source collaboration.

The Competition That Sparked Debate

The South Korean Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology launched this three-year challenge last June, aiming to select two domestic companies by 2027 capable of matching 95% of the performance achieved by industry leaders like OpenAI and Google. Five finalists emerged: Naver Cloud, Upstage, SK Telecom, NC AI, and LG AI Research.

But the road to AI independence proved bumpier than expected. Competitor Sionic AI first raised concerns after noticing similarities between Upstage's model and China's Zhipu AI open-source project - including retained copyright notices. Upstage later acknowledged using Zhipu components for reasoning code while maintaining its core model was independently developed.

The Domino Effect

The scrutiny quickly spread. Naver faced questions about encoders resembling those from Alibaba and OpenAI, while SK Telecom's approach showed parallels with DeepSeek's model architecture. All companies emphasized their core technology remained original, with external components serving specialized functions.

"This isn't about cutting corners," explained one industry insider who requested anonymity. "Modern AI development routinely builds on existing work - it's how the field progresses. The question is where we draw the line between leveraging community knowledge and true independence."

Rules vs. Realities

The competition guidelines don't explicitly ban foreign open-source code, reflecting the practical realities of AI development. As Harvard Professor Gu-Yeon Wei noted: "Abandoning open-source software means giving up huge benefits."

Yet some South Korean technologists worry about long-term implications. "If we're not careful," warned one researcher at a Seoul university, "we might end up with brilliant facade systems built on foundations we don't fully control or understand."

The controversy underscores a fundamental tension in global tech development today: how to balance the undeniable efficiencies of open collaboration with genuine technological sovereignty.

Key Points:

• Three of five finalists in South Korea's "AI national team" competition used Chinese open-source components
• Companies maintain their core technology remains independently developed
• Competition rules don't prohibit using foreign open-source code
• Debate continues about what constitutes true technological independence in AI
• Situation reflects broader tensions between open collaboration and national tech ambitions