South Korea’s science ministry and the country’s three major telecom operators announced Tuesday they will cooperate to boost artificial intelligence investment, committing more than 240 billion won to promising AI companies.

At a ceremony in Seoul, the ministry and executives from SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus discussed investment plans through the Korea IT Fund(KIF), which was established by the three carriers.

KIF will channel over 240 billion won into core and enabling AI technologies and AI transformation(AX) projects, alongside creating a 40 billion won AI semiconductor fund and a 20 billion won ICT commercialization fund.

The fund, launched in 2002, has invested about four-point-seven trillion won in over one-thousand-600 ICT startups to date.

Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon called AI “the source of all innovation” and said the new sub-funds would help energize the country’s AI sector.