Supergate will develop an artificial intelligence chip for an aerial drone platform with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the company said Sept. 21, after signing an agreement for a defense-sector project under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources' K-On-Device AI Semiconductor Technology Development Project. The companies will develop and validate an AI semiconductor and autonomous control system in an actual operating environment. The research and development program will run for 54 months and is valued at about 130 billion won. KAI will develop the drone platform and autonomous control system, while Supergate will develop the AI chip and semiconductor software. Samsung Electronics will serve as the foundry, and Gaonchips will support the AI chip design. Supergate is a custom chip design company that designs chips based on concepts provided by customers, and it plans to expand its AI system-on-chip (SoC) and software platform business for autonomous driving, autonomous flight and robotics. The company is also considering developing its own chips, though no decision has been made. CEO Shim Seung-pil called it a meaningful project to apply an AI chip designed in Korea to a domestically developed drone platform and said the company will contribute to Korea's technological self-reliance in AI semiconductors for defense.