South Korea Invests $110M in AI Chips and Drone Tech

South Korea just made its biggest bet yet on the technology that will power autonomous vehicles and intelligent drones, pouring $110 million into two hardware startups in a single week.

BOS Semiconductors raised $65 million in what stands as one of Korea's largest early-stage semiconductor investments ever. The company is building Eagle-N, the world's first chiplet-based AI processor designed specifically for self-driving cars. The chip can handle 250 trillion operations per second, giving autonomous vehicles the computing power they need to navigate safely without human drivers.

Meanwhile, drone specialist UVify closed a $45 million round, the largest investment a Korean drone company has ever received. UVify has already proven its technology works at scale, coordinating hundreds of drones in elaborate light shows for artists like BLACKPINK and G-Dragon. Now they're adapting that same swarm technology for industrial and defense applications.

What makes UVify particularly special is its seat on the Dronecode Foundation board. As the only Korean company at that table, UVify helps shape PX4, the open-source operating system that powers drones worldwide. That influence gives them a head start as the industry scales up.

The timing tells a bigger story. Korean investors spent years chasing the next viral app or software platform. Now they're backing companies that build physical products requiring years of engineering and massive capital investment. Nineteen different investors, including the Korea Development Bank, pooled money for the BOS round alone.

The Ripple Effect

This infrastructure investment creates opportunities far beyond two companies. When BOS succeeds in building automotive AI chips, Korean engineers gain expertise that strengthens the entire semiconductor ecosystem. When UVify scales its swarm technology, it validates Korea as a serious player in autonomous systems, attracting more talent and capital to the sector.

Park Jae-hong, CEO of BOS Semiconductors, sees the funding as validation that global markets are ready for their technology. Lee Dong-woo from Crit Ventures, which led UVify's round, noted how rare it is to find a company that combines world-class technical skills with proven commercial success.

The shift matters because hardware creates defensible advantages that software alone cannot match. Korea is leveraging its existing manufacturing strength to carve out leadership in what investors now call Physical AI, technology that interacts with and moves through the real world rather than just processing information on screens.

If these companies successfully integrate their products into global automotive and defense supply chains by 2028, they'll prove that patient capital invested in deep technology pays off. Korea is betting it can become Asia's specialized hardware hub, and the infrastructure is now in place to make that vision real.