Aug 8, 2023

The Korea Times Posted : 2023-08-08 15:52 Updated : 2023-08-08 16:02 Luke Anderson, managing director of Generative AI and Machine Learning at AWS APJ, speaks during a press conference at AWS Korea's headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul By Baek Byung-yeul Amazon Web Services (AWS) will help Korean AI startups grow with its Generative AI Accelerator, a program that combines powerful AI tools with business, technical mentors and experts, the global-leading cloud computing service provider said Tuesday. Luke Anderson, managing director of Generative AI and Machine Learning at AWS APJ, said AWS Korea will launch a six-week-long AI startup accelerator program in cooperation with local venture capitals ― Saehan Venture Capital and KB Investment to help creative Korean companies grow with AWS' superior AI technology and accelerator programs. Startups participating in the AWS Generative AI Accelerator program will receive up to $200,000 in AWS credit in addition to a variety of technical support. AWS has been offering various support tools to better help customers in the field of generative AI, which has been recognized as a game changer in the IT industry. They are AWS Bedrock, a tool that allows customers to create generative AI services on the cloud computing service, and AWS SageMaker JumpStart, a tool that can be used for machine learning. "We want to be the easiest place to build foundational models in the world," Anderson said. "Also, we want to be the most performance-focused one. As you are seeing from the rise in generative AI applications, performance is going to be key both in terms of training as well as inferencing the models. The third one is we want to build and help our customers build generative AI-powered applications. And finally, one of the biggest things we hear from our customers is flexibility and choice. There won't be one model to rule them all. It is going to be a combination of multiple foundation models to deliver the awesome outcomes." Generative AI is powered by machine learning models, often referred to as foundational models (FM), which are very large models with massive amounts of data. According to global market research firm CB Insights, global generative AI investment in 2021 was about $1.15 billion, and capital investment in generative AI startups globally was over $2.65 billion in 2022, proving that this sector shows no signs of slowing. "With its global-leading digital infrastructure, creative cultural genes, sophisticated user base and top-notch AI professionals, Korea is well positioned to become a key region for generative AI," Kim Yoon, a partner at Saehan Venture Capital said. "We will work with creative entrepreneurs to develop and nurture innovative applications and services that will transform both the digital and analog worlds."