The South Korean government plans to process permits for artificial intelligence data centers through a single consolidated channel to speed up their rollout. It will also ease regulations across the self-driving industry, including allowing domestic sales of driverless cars and pilot operation of robotaxis.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) each unveiled plans to rationalize rules on AI data centers and autonomous driving at the second plenary meeting of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee, chaired by the president, on the 23rd.
MSIT will set up a one-stop fast-track window to speed up permitting, cited as the biggest obstacle to building AI data centers. It will also seek to exempt AI data centers outside the capital area from power grid impact assessments if they meet certain criteria.
Building rules will be eased as well. Since areas where people are present account for less than 30% of an AI data center, the government will treat such facilities differently from ordinary buildings. Unmanned facilities such as server rooms and cooling and power equipment will be excluded from the calculation of building size. The government will also spend 200 billion won next year to support upstream and downstream industries for AI data centers, and will designate AI data center special zones that include plans for shared growth with host regions.
Bae Kyung-hoon, deputy prime minister and minister of science and ICT, signaled a willingness to expand tax incentives at a parliamentary audit the same day. "Leased AI data centers currently receive no tax benefits, and we will move quickly to discuss this with fiscal authorities so that foreign capital can be attracted more effectively," Bae said.
MOLIT will create a legal framework for autonomous driving service operators to commercialize robotaxis driven by robots. The ministry plans to complete revisions to the law by next year and begin pilot operations around 2028 in Gwangju, a test city for self-driving technology. The government will also introduce safety standards for driverless car sales in line with the domestic legal system and open sales channels for driverless autonomous vehicles starting at the end of this year.
Rules on corporate testing will be relaxed further. Self-driving cars without a driver's seat will be allowed to travel outside designated pilot zones when moving to a depot or recharging. Raw data collected by business vehicles operated by third parties will also be made available for use.