The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it is extending its network connecting the city's artificial intelligence (AI) startups with leading international researchers from North America to Europe, signing a partnership with Imperial College London after three years of collaboration with Canada's Mila AI institute. The city and its AI industry hub, Seoul AI Hub, signed the agreement Tuesday at the British Embassy Seoul, establishing a framework for joint research, technology commercialization, researcher exchanges and support for startups entering the European market. The signing ceremony was attended by Imperial College London Vice-Provost for Research and Enterprise Mary Ryan and British Embassy Deputy Ambassador Gareth Weir, along with officials from Seoul AI Hub. Seoul AI Hub's international research partnerships began in 2023 with Mila, the AI institute in Quebec, Canada, founded by deep-learning researcher Yoshua Bengio. Since then, the hub has supported 20 Seoul-based AI startups in joint projects with Mila researchers, including work on 3D facial modeling from single photos, automa