Non-U.S. AI Startups Like Korea Gain Global Prominence

The landscape of the global artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is being reshaped. The flow of AI development, once centered in Silicon Valley, is now extending its powerful currents to various parts of the world. A recent report from GCV (Global Corporate Venturing), a UK venture specialist media, clearly illustrates this change, emphasizing that AI startups outside the US are now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Silicon Valley giants on the global stage. The list of promising AI startups, shining with active support from corporate investors, itself proves the diversity of the global AI ecosystem. MOREH from Korea, Moonshot AI from China, Mistral from France, Cohere from Canada, AI21 Labs from Israel, and Aleph Alpha from Germany are among these key players. These companies are making a distinct mark on the global AI market with their unique technological capabilities and innovative approaches. Of course, according to data from global market research firm PitchBook, North American AI and machine learning startups still attract more than eight times the investment of other regions, showcasing overwhelming capital power. However, GCV analyzes that the recent rise of China's Deepseek sends a strong message that AI innovation does not necessarily need to be confined to a specific region. This suggests that the paradigm of AI development is gradually becoming multi-polar. In particular, GCV is highlighting Korea's MOREH as the startup most similar to Deepseek's innovative approach. MOREH has developed unique software that allows users to build and optimize their own AI models in a more flexible and modular way. This software can run on a much wider range of GPU chips than those supported by NVIDIA's products, dramatically expanding the scope of hardware choices. MOREH's software helps companies acquire chips needed for AI infrastructure at a more affordable cost. Furthermore, it is perfectly compatible with the machine learning frameworks of major companies such as NVIDIA, Meta, and Google, providing high efficiency without development environment constraints. This can be described as an optimized solution for modern AI development environments that simultaneously pursue technological independence and cost-efficiency. GCV, playing a crucial role in promoting such global AI innovation, hosts global CVC (Corporate Venture Capital) networking and investment information exchange events annually in the US, Europe, and Asia, helping to vitalize the ecosystem. In Korea, it has also collaborated with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support the global expansion of domestic startups by conducting various programs linked to the nation's largest startup events, such as 'COMEUP'. This clearly demonstrates that the future of AI technology will no longer remain in a single hub but will spread across the globe.