Google will open an artificial intelligence campus in South Korea before the end of this year, making it the company’s first such facility outside the United Kingdom. The announcement came Monday after Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis met President Lee Jae Myung at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul.The campus is designed to connect Google researchers with Korean startups and engineers. Seoul specifically asked Hassabis to send at least 10 Google researchers from the U.S. headquarters—and he agreed on the spot.Korea’s Science Ministry and Google DeepMind also signed a memorandum of understanding covering joint AI research, skills development, and responsible AI use. The deal is expected to support Korea’s “K-Moonshot” project, an ambitious national program targeting 12 major challenges—from advanced biotech to space and semiconductors—using AI by 2035.
The AlphaGo moment, ten years later
The visit carries symbolic weight. A decade ago, DeepMind’s AlphaGo beat Korean Go legend Lee Se-dol 4–1 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul—the same venue where Monday’s MOU was signed. Hassabis marked the anniversary by gifting President Lee a Go board signed by both himself and Lee Se-dol.That 2016 match is widely credited with kicking off the modern AI era. Since then, DeepMind’s AlphaFold cracked one of biology’s hardest problems—predicting protein structures—earning Hassabis a share of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Korea pitching itself as an AI industrial hub
Hassabis described South Korea as a “great industrial base” across key AI sectors, from chips to robotics. He said DeepMind wants deeper ties with Samsung, SK Hynix, Hyundai’s Boston Dynamics, and LG.Hassabis is the latest AI heavyweight to visit Seoul. President Lee has also hosted OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son in recent months.
