Industry Ministry denies rumors over new government-led think tank on utilizing chipmakers' profits

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on Wednesday denied recent rumors that the government is pushing to establish a new think tank to utilize chipmakers' massive profits generated by the global AI boom.

"The rumor circulating online that Seoul has sent letters to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to launch a government-led think tank related to the sharing of profits is completely false," the Industry Ministry said in a statement.

The rumor came after growing discussions in Korea over how to use additional tax revenue generated by chipmakers' record profits to support long-term growth.

"We will take strong action against the spread of such misleading information […] by referring the matter to investigative authorities," the ministry added.

Last month, President Lee Jae Myung suggested a basic income grant as a way to "distribute some of the excess profits to the general public" during an interview with The Economist while discussing the recent debate over how to share chipmakers' windfall gains.

The presidential office later explained that the remarks were not aimed at specific companies but referred to a challenge that Korea will eventually have to address due to the AI transition.

Yonhap