American tech giant Google says South Korea is continually demonstrating creativity and technological prowess in the field of artificial intelligence(AI), as the company vowed to continue to support the overseas expansion of South Korean startups.

During a media roundtable held at the Google Korea office in Seoul on Wednesday, Google’s Vice President of Asia-Pacific Platforms and Ecosystems Karen Teo introduced the achievements of a startup support program called Google Changgu.

Launched in 2019 by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in collaboration with Google Play, the program supports mobile service startups with funding, consulting and marketing.

Google announced that it has supported 660 startups through the joint program, with  cumulative investment from participating companies as of last year reaching 177-point-two billion won, or over 128 million U.S. dollars.

In its latest selection of startups for the program, 46 percent were AI startups, representing more than a threefold increase from two years ago, with Google looking to focus more on the AI sector.