Chief financial regulator vows to scale up support for AI firms

SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- The chief of the country's financial regulator said Tuesday that authorities will double the support for artificial intelligence (AI) firms. In a meeting with heads of AI startups, such as FuriosaAI, Upstage Co. and LG AI Research, Lee Eog-weon, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said more risk capital and policy loans should be funneled into promising AI startups. Lee highlighted a series of investments into the AI sector by the National Growth Fund. According to the FSC, a total of 2 trillion won (US$1.36 billion) has been directly and indirectly invested in AI startups and related projects so far this year, which accounts for 24 percent of an 8.4 trillion-won investment made by the state-private investment fund. FSC Chairman Lee Eog-weon speaks during a meeting on support measures for the Middle East crisis-hit sectors in Seoul on April 17, 2026. (Yonhap) Earlier, the fund's investment deliberation committee decided to invest 560 billion won in Upstage Co., a local AI startup, marking the second direct investment by the mega-sized fund. The committee also has decided to allocate 640 billion won to AI chip startup Rebellions Inc. and approved a 400 billion-won equity investment in a construction project to build an AI computing center in South Jeolla Province Launched late last year, the National Growth Fund aims to nurture startups in strategic industries, such as AI, bio and semiconductors. The government plans to raise up to 150 trillion won both from the private and public sectors and operate the fund for the next five years. sam@yna.co.kr(END)