Diplomacy Journal Lee Sung Jun | President Lee Jae-myung met with Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, at 3 p.m. on April 27th this year. During the meeting, they engaged in an in-depth discussion regarding the recent rapid advancements in AI technology, future directions of change, responsible AI utilization, and global cooperation strategies.

CEO Hassabis is a world-renowned scholar who oversaw the historic "AlphaGo" match against Go grandmaster Lee Se-dol in 2016 and was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of "AlphaFold," an AI model for predicting protein structures.

This meeting is a continuation of the global initiatives President Lee has been pursuing.

Last October, President Lee met with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, and last November, he also discussed cooperation plans with SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son.

Last year, during APEC meeting, the 'AI Initiative' was unanimously adopted by member states. More recently, it was decided to establish a 'Global AI Hub' in Korea in collaboration with international organizations such as the WHO, UNDP and ITU, and a consensus was reached with Indonesia to form a global AI basic social coalition.

The reason why leaders driving the global AI industry are visiting Korea is clear.

South Korea possesses a comprehensive combination of semiconductor competitiveness, world-class manufacturing capabilities, stable infrastructure, and outstanding talent.

These collaborations serve as proof that South Korea's value is rising as a key partner in the core of the AI ​​era, and they are also a path to elevating our strategic value to an irreplaceable level.

President Lee Jae-myung greeted him warmly, and asked, "Mr. Hassabis, you are a very famous figure in Korea. Are you aware of that?"

In response, Mr. Hassabis said, "Today's AI was born in Seoul, where the AlphaGo match took place 10 years ago." Then he said, "Korea is a very special country for me and Google DeepMind."

President Lee shared a joke about using Gemini, noting that it sometimes gives unexpected answers.
Representative Hassabis expressed gratitude for the use of Gemini, pointing out that while AI brings tremendous opportunities, it also poses risks such as the potential for malicious use and the dangers of AI capable of independent decision-making.

He emphasized the need to establish minimum guardrails shared by the international community, starting from AI design to the integration of security solutions.

President Lee stated that international control norms or standards are needed to ensure the safe use of AI, but noted that these seem to be severely lacking.

Representative Hassabis agreed with this sentiment, acknowledging that establishing international norms is not easy given the intensifying competition in the private sector and the deepening technological rivalry between the U.S. and China.

He stated that it is urgent for countries like Korea, the U.S., and Singapore to cooperate to create a comprehensive framework, and for the government and private sector to leverage collective intelligence to carefully consider safeguards.

In response to President Lee's question regarding when AGI would be achieved, Representative Hassabis predicted that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), capable of utilizing all human cognitive abilities, would become a reality within the next five years, specifically by 2030.

He foresaw that its ripple effects could bring about social changes far greater than those of the Industrial Revolution at a much faster pace.

Furthermore, he stated that his ultimate goal is to utilize AI as a tool for scientific discovery. He added that AI can create new breakthroughs in all fields, including the development of new materials, the treatment of incurable diseases, and productivity innovation, and assessed that humanity is entering a new golden age of scientific discovery.

President Lee and Representative Hassabis also frankly exchanged views on the future direction of AI.
They fully agreed that while AI, when utilized properly, can be a powerful tool to solve humanity's challenges—such as low growth, the climate crisis, and healthcare issues—and usher in new prosperity, it also carries the risk of being used in warfare or exacerbating the wealth gap. Therefore, they agreed, the international community must pool its wisdom for the responsible use of AI.

President Lee emphasized the importance of resolving the unemployment and job issues that AI will bring, and mentioned the need for preparation in this regard. Representative Hassabis suggested that while the impact on jobs is difficult to predict, a new economic model is needed that considers job justice and wealth redistribution.

President Lee asked whether AI is needed now, in this AI era, given that he has been discussing basic income for over 20 years.

Representative Hassabis agreed on the necessity of basic income, adding that while the state should provide basic services such as housing, education, transportation, and health, consideration is also needed to incorporate the principles of the capital market. He also suggested that it is necessary to consider supporting workers who train robots with the increased productivity resulting from robots replacing jobs.

President Lee introduced plans to establish a "Global AI Hub" to lead various cooperative projects with the government, international organizations, and companies so that everyone can share in the benefits of AI technology development.

He urged DeepMind, with its unrivaled technological prowess and capabilities, to join this journey as a key partner. Representative Hassabis highly praised South Korea's pursuit of this agenda and responded by expressing his hope that Google would also have the opportunity to actively participate in this initiative.
Furthermore, Google and Google DeepMind agreed to concretely expand AI cooperation with the Korean research and academic communities.

Initially, they agreed to cooperate closely, centering on the "K-Moonshot Project" promoted by the Korean government. As their research team joins hands with DeepMind, which possesses world-class scientific AI capabilities, it is expected that their capabilities in science and technology fields, such as bio, weather and climate, and future energy, will take a significant leap forward. To support this, an MOU is planned to be signed between the Ministry of Science and ICT and Google DeepMind.

In addition, Google has decided to open an 'AI Campus' in Seoul within this year to significantly expand cooperation with researchers and startups. This AI Campus is opening in Korea as the first of its kind in the world, making its significance considerable.

CEO Hassabis agreed to actively consider dispatching Google's research team to Korea. He requested the dispatch of at least 10 personnel, and the request was agreed upon on the spot.

At the end of the meeting, President Lee said, "Just as we opened the curtain on the AI ​​era together with the Republic of Korea with the AlphaGo match 10 years ago, I look forward to ushering in a brilliant future of 'AI for All' together 10 or 20 years from now."