Medium-Sized Nations Accelerate AI Sovereignty, South Korea Increases 2026 Budget to 9.9 Trillion Won

According to Bloomberg, medium-sized nations including Canada, the EU, Japan, South Korea, and France are accelerating AI sovereignty strategies to reduce dependence on the U.S. and China on June 12. Canada and Germany launched a "sovereign technology alliance" and advanced Cohere's acquisition of German firm Aleph Alpha to lower critical technology reliance.

South Korea set "becoming a top-three AI power" as a national core goal, with its 2026 AI budget increased to 9.9 trillion Korean won, focusing on large language models, autonomous GPU development, and data centers.