KAIST sets out vision for new College of AI with four departments and 300 students

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) held a vision declaration ceremony for its newly established College of AI on June 1, 2026 at its main campus in Daejeon, The Korea Times reported. The college treats artificial intelligence as a foundation for generating new knowledge and not only as a tool, and aims to train both advanced AI researchers and interdisciplinary graduates who can apply AI across fields.

The college's strategy covers talent development, research innovation, industry collaboration and a responsible AI ecosystem. At the ceremony KAIST also launched an advisory board with representatives from companies including Naver Cloud, Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, Upstage, Rebellions, Lunit, Krafton and 42dot, the Hyundai Motor Group unit.

The plan for the college was announced in December 2025 by South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT and KAIST. According to Asia Economy, it has four departments, AI Computing, AI Systems, AX (AI Transformation) and AI Futures, and a quota of 300 students: 100 undergraduates, 150 master's students and 50 doctoral students. The undergraduate program was scheduled to start in the spring semester of 2026 and graduate programs in the fall, with each department beginning with five full-time faculty members. The government also said it intends to extend AI colleges to three other science and technology institutes, GIST, DGIST and UNIST, by 2027.