South Korea Targets Eight Homegrown On-Device AI Chips by 2030

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy rolled out the plan on November 12, 2026, at the AI Semiconductor M.AX Alliance meeting in Seoul, with roughly 150 people from industry, academia and research in the room. It's called the K-On-Device AI Semiconductor Technology Development Project. The goal: eight locally designed AI chips plus two semiconductor design IP assets, all validated by 2030.

The money behind it is 800.2 billion won, which Crypto Briefing pegs at roughly $578–600 million. The chips are meant to run artificial intelligence on the device itself rather than on distant servers — the target list covers autonomous vehicles, smart home appliances, humanoid robots, drones and defense systems.

Samsung Electronics is the manufacturing backbone. Its foundry division has committed to prioritizing prototype production for domestic designers, including access to its 2-nanometer process. Concretely, that means 21 prototype production slots in 2027, with three of them reserved for 2nm-class work.

That capacity may matter more than the cash. Advanced manufacturing slots are scarce, and small fabless design houses — firms that draw chips but outsource the building — often struggle to get time on cutting-edge lines. The roadmap pairs those designers with partners in automotive, appliances and defense, pushing chips toward real products instead of shelf-bound research.

The project slots into South Korea's wider Three Mega Projects push across semiconductors, AI and robotics, and builds on earlier 2026 government efforts plus a public-private partnership led by Samsung and SK Group.

The execution risks are specific. Only three of the 21 slots are 2nm-class, so most early prototypes will run on other nodes. The markers to watch: whether the 2027 prototype runs stay on schedule, which fabless firms grab the 2nm slots and for what products, and whether all eight chips and two design IPs clear validation by 2030.