Naver Cloud Named Lead Organizer for Proprietary AI Foundation Model

Naver Cloud has taken the lead in the development of the 'Independent AI Foundation Model,' a national core project spearheaded by the Ministry of Science and ICT. Selected as one of the five main operators, Naver Cloud has formed a strong consortium with Twelve Labs, a Silicon Valley video multimodal AI startup, and top domestic research institutions such as KAIST and Seoul National University, completing its preparations to usher in an innovative AI era. The core of this project is based on Naver Cloud's proud 'AI full-stack' capabilities. The unique experience accumulated from building and operating every stage with its own technology, from the hyperscale language model HyperCLOVA X to large-scale data centers, cloud infrastructure, and AI platforms, will serve as a strong foundation for the success of this project. In particular, by combining Naver's language and voice-based multimodal technology with Twelve Labs' advanced video AI technology, the consortium will accelerate the development of an 'Omni Foundation Model' that comprehensively understands and generates heterogeneous data such as text, images, audio, and video. This is expected to open new horizons for multimodal AI, which will be widely utilized in domestic and international industrial and public sectors. Based on this Omni model, the Naver Cloud consortium plans not only to provide AI services that the entire nation can experience, but also to create an ecosystem where anyone can develop and distribute AI agents through an AI agent marketplace. Furthermore, it will focus on creating tangible value by promoting the commercialization of industry-specific models and solutions. Furthermore, building on its experience in establishing sovereign AI in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Japan, it plans to establish a global export model for K-AI and actively contribute to the expansion of the domestic AI ecosystem through initiatives like open-sourcing lightweight and inference-specialized models. Seong Nak-ho, Head of HyperCLOVA Technology at Naver Cloud, stated his ambition, saying, "AI must go beyond simply being well-made; it must create value in actual services and industrial settings," and "Through this project, we will implement a national representative AI model that can be utilized anywhere, domestically and internationally, and create K-AI that is competitive on the global stage." This is expected to be a crucial turning point for South Korea's AI technology to lead the global market.