Power, not chips, may decide Korea’s AI future

South Korea’s bid to become a global artificial intelligence powerhouse may hinge on a single constraint: electricity. Rep. Lee Hae-min of the Rebuilding Korea Party, a former Google engineer, said the country’s ambition to rank among the world’s top three AI nations will depend on whether it can secure power at scale. “If we want to become an AI G3 nation, then power purchase agreements are not optional — they are inevitable,” Lee said in an interview with The Korea Herald on Tuesday.