ARM, a prolific designer of CPU cores and owned by Japan's SoftBank, is embarking on a major skill-building initiative in South Korea, one that would bolster the chip design expertise of the Asian powerhouse via a dedicated school that would train 1,400 individuals by 2030.
ARM's semiconductor design school will train 1,400 South Koreans by 2030
South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy has now signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the chip designer ARM to strengthen the country's semiconductor and AI industries.
As per the terms of the MOU, ARM will establish a dedicated chip design school in South Korea to train 1,400 "world-class" semiconductor design professionals by 2030.
The move is expected to act as a major impetus for South Korea's so-called fabless semiconductor companies, including Silicon Works, ADTechnology, Telechips, Nextchip, as well as AI-focused firms such as Rebellions and FADU.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy also plans to establish specialized graduate schools for semiconductors.
In a separate meeting between the South Korean President, Lee Jae-myung, and Softbank's Chairman, Masayoshi Son, the latter identified four key elements for achieving Artificial Superintelligence (ASI):
- Energy
- Semiconductors
- Data
- Education
Son went on to note:
"Korea's critical weakness is its lack of sufficient energy."
He then added:
"Global companies are announcing many plans to build data centers in Korea, but in my view, the scale is very small."
Do note that ARM already has a significant footprint in South Korea via its subsidiary, ARM Korea Ltd., which licenses intellectual property - primarily related to CPU cores - to various Korean companies.
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