2 weeks Ago By Korea Bizwire
South Korea saw a decline in its global AI investment ranking, even as the number of domestically funded AI startups increased. (Image created by AI/ChatGPT) SEOUL, April 17, (Korea Bizwire) — As artificial intelligence continues to transform societies, a new report reveals that AI-related negative incidents—ranging from deepfake pornography to suicide-linked chatbots—surged to a record high last year. Meanwhile, South Korea saw a decline in its global AI investment ranking, even as the number of domestically funded AI startups increased.
According to the Software Policy & Research Institute (SPRi), which analyzed Stanford University’s recently released AI Index Report 2025 , a total of 233 AI-related negative events were recorded worldwide in 2024—a 56.4% jump from the previous year and the highest since tracking began in 2019 through the independent AIAAIC project database. These incidents underscore the growing societal risks of unchecked AI proliferation.
The report highlighted that despite efforts to introduce new ethical evaluation metrics—such as benchmarks for factuality and bias—major AI model developers have yet to adopt standardized, accountable frameworks. Leading models, including OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet, still exhibit racial and gender bias, as well as hallucination problems.
Public confidence in AI also slipped. In a global survey cited in the report, only 47% of respondents believed AI companies would safeguard personal data in 2024, down from 50% in 2023. Similarly, belief in AI’s impartiality dropped from 56% to 54%.
Still, expectations for workplace disruption rose, with 60% of respondents saying they expect AI to alter how they work within the next five years. Despite mounting ethical and societal concerns, global legislative efforts to regulate AI are intensifying. From 2016 to 2024, 114 countries enacted AI-related laws, with the United States leading at 27 statutes, followed by Portugal (20), Russia (20), Belgium (18), and South Korea (13).
On the investment front, the number of South Korean AI startups securing new funding rose from 22 in 2022 to 52 in 2024, placing the country seventh globally. However, the total investment volume and South Korea’s overall rank declined. The United States led in 2024 with 1,073 newly funded AI firms, followed by the UK (116) and China (98).
South Korea also faced continued challenges in retaining AI talent. The country recorded a “talent mobility index” of -0.36 in 2024, indicating a net outflow of skilled AI workers—slightly worse than -0.
30 in 2023. For comparison, Luxembourg (8.92) and the UAE (4.
13) were among the top net talent importers, while Israel (-2.1) and India (-1.55) joined South Korea as exporters of AI professionals.
However, the SPRi cautioned that this index is based on LinkedIn activity, which may not fully represent domestic hiring trends, as only about 3 million Koreans used the platform as of last year. In terms of AI talent concentration—defined as the share of LinkedIn users with AI skills or roles—South Korea ranked 10th globally, with 1.06%, trailing behind countries like Israel (1.
98%) and Singapore (1.64%). The findings signal a pressing need for South Korea to bolster both its AI governance framework and domestic innovation ecosystem to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving global AI landscape.
Kevin Lee ( [email protected] ).
