Ministry of Science and ICT Selects Upstage, SK Telecom, and LG AI Research Institute in Second Stage of Indie AI Foundation Model Evaluation

Motif Technologies Fails to Make the Final Cut

Ryu Jemyung, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, announced the second evaluation results of the independent AI foundation model project at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul on August 18, 2026. Photo by Cho Yongjun

In the second-stage evaluation of the Ministry of Science and ICT's independent artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model (Independent Foundation Model, or IFM) project, three models—Upstage, SK Telecom, and LG AI Research (in alphabetical order)—were selected as the final candidates to advance to the next stage. Motif Technologies, which joined the evaluation later than the others, caused a stir by recently ranking first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (AAII), a comprehensive metric for AI performance assessment. However, it did not make it into the final lineup.

On August 18, the Ministry of Science and ICT held a briefing at the Government Complex Seoul and announced that, out of the four participating companies, only three teams—Upstage, SK Telecom, and LG AI Research—survived the second-stage evaluation and advanced to the next round. According to the Ministry, "Motif Technologies was eliminated by a narrow margin, based on the combined results of benchmark evaluation (maximum 40 points), expert evaluation (maximum 35 points), and user evaluation (maximum 25 points) in the second round."

According to the expert committee's assessment, Upstage received positive reviews for pursuing integration with platforms such as Daum and Timely so that the public can experience the benefits of its development outcomes, as well as for easing reliance on foreign hardware through collaboration with FuriosaAI on neural processing units (NPUs). SK Telecom achieved top performance in mathematical reasoning and the Korean language among peer groups, and earned high marks for usability and practicality due to its actual deployment in large-scale commercial services. LG AI Research was recognized for its differentiated approach to agentic AI, as well as its efforts to boost global influence by establishing collaboration strategies with international organizations.

The government plans to expand support for high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs—specifically, the B200) to the three teams advancing to the next stage. Ryu Jemyung, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "We deeply recognize the necessity of developing top-tier independent AI models and are currently discussing a new support system that goes beyond existing methods with relevant ministries. We plan to prepare detailed measures and announce them in due course."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.