Why French Quantum Champions Are Now Looking Toward Seoul

“Now is 100% Korea’s time.”

When Jensen Huang made this statement in Seoul in June 2026, the CEO of NVIDIA was not speaking only about semiconductors. More broadly, his message reflected the role South Korea now intends to play in the next generation of strategic industries: artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, digital infrastructure, and Physical AI.

For decades, global technological competition was primarily driven by research, patents, scientific publications, and innovation funding. The simultaneous emergence of generative AI, quantum technologies, and autonomous systems is now shifting the center of gravity of this competition.

The question is no longer simply where a technology is invented. It is now about identifying the territories capable of rapidly transforming scientific innovation into industrial products—and ultimately into economic advantage.

This is precisely where Seoul is seeking to differentiate itself today.

Pasqal and Quandela Tell the Same Story.

In 2025, Pasqal, one of Europe’s leading quantum computing companies, co-founded by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Alain Aspect, signed an agreement with the City of Seoul to establish a quantum research and development center representing nearly $53 million in investment.

For the French company, the objective extends far beyond simply opening a local office.

“Our expansion into Korea not only opens opportunities to collaborate with world-class industrial and academic partners, but also strategically positions Pasqal as a first mover in the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific quantum market,” explained Wasiq Bokhari, Chairman of Pasqal.

Alongside this broader momentum, another major French quantum technology company, Quandela, has also announced plans to strengthen its presence in Seoul. The French specialist in quantum photonics plans to recruit several dozen specialized engineers and researchers, develop a Quantum Computing Farm, and launch a joint research program with KAIST focused on quantum communication technologies.

The two companies are not just looking for a market, but an environment capable of connecting basic research, talent, industry, capital and commercial deployment within a single ecosystem.

Why Seoul Is Attracting Europe’s Critical Technology Companies.

This trend helps explain the rise of Invest Seoul, the agency established by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to attract foreign investment in strategic industries.

Launched in October 2025, Invest Seoul presents itself as the first international investment attraction agency created by a Korean local government. Its ambition is to position Seoul as a global platform capable of hosting companies developing tomorrow’s critical technologies.

Leading the organization is Jihyung Lee, President & CEO of Invest Seoul and an expert in investment policy and international trade. He promotes a vision that extends far beyond traditional economic development.

“Our mission goes beyond simply promoting the city. We support global companies in successfully entering the Seoul market and creating long-term business value through innovation,” he explained in an interview with FW.MEDIA.

For local authorities, the next global technology race will depend less on the ability to generate research and more on the ability to accelerate the transition from laboratory breakthroughs to industrial deployment.

This conviction is supported by several structural advantages.

South Korea possesses an exceptional concentration of global industrial leaders in semiconductors, electronics, shipbuilding, automotive manufacturing, robotics, and digital infrastructure. This industrial density enables technology companies to test, deploy, and industrialize innovations more rapidly.

In the Startup Genome Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2025, Seoul ranked first globally in the “Knowledge Accumulation” category, which measures a territory’s ability to concentrate scientific, technological, and industrial assets.

Korea’s Advantage: Shortening the Distance Between the Laboratory and Industry.

For many years, major technology ecosystems developed distinct specializations.

Silicon Valley concentrated capital. Boston dominated certain scientific disciplines. Shenzhen excelled in electronics manufacturing. Singapore emerged as a regional gateway to Asia.

Today, Seoul is attempting to combine several of these advantages simultaneously.

“Seoul combines one of the world’s most advanced industrial and semiconductor bases with a highly dynamic open innovation ecosystem,” explains Jihyung Lee. “Today, Seoul offers one of the world’s most effective environments for transforming breakthrough technologies into concrete economic opportunities.”

For companies such as Pasqal and Quandela, whose technologies are entering commercialization phases, proximity to industry becomes a significant competitive advantage.

The challenge is no longer simply building a powerful quantum computer. It is about identifying industrial use cases, customers, infrastructure, and partners capable of accelerating adoption.

From Quantum Computing to Physical AI.

The same logic is now emerging in artificial intelligence.

Generative AI was initially perceived as a software revolution. Its current evolution is bringing it increasingly closer to the physical world: robotics, industrial automation, energy infrastructure, predictive maintenance, and autonomous systems.

This convergence helps explain the growing interest of companies such as Cognite in the Korean ecosystem.

A specialist in industrial AI, the company has recently strengthened its presence in Seoul and expanded collaborations with major Korean corporations. Its leadership describes South Korea as “a land of opportunity where global manufacturing leaders and cutting-edge R&D capabilities coexist.”

As AI becomes increasingly connected to factories, infrastructure, and industrial systems, territories capable of offering both research capabilities and production capacity become strategically more valuable.

What This Trend Reveals About Europe.

Europe continues to hold strong positions in several strategic technologies.

European quantum technologies remain among the most advanced in the world. French universities and research laboratories continue to produce world-class scientific research. European companies also maintain leadership positions in key sectors such as cybersecurity, industrial software, and critical infrastructure.

But global competition is no longer focused solely on invention.

It is increasingly about the speed of industrialization.

The decisions made by Pasqal and Quandela illustrate this evolution. They do not reflect a weakening of Europe. Rather, they reveal the search for new growth platforms capable of accelerating the commercialization of technologies developed on the continent.

From this perspective, Seoul is positioning itself not as a competitor to Europe, but as a complementary industrial partner.

A Franco-Korean Relationship Reaching a New Scale.

This momentum comes at a particularly symbolic moment.

The year 2026 marks the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and South Korea. At the same time, cooperation between the two countries continues to expand across quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, space, nuclear energy, and the energy transition.

For Invest Seoul, the objective is now to accelerate this movement.

More than a financial center or simply another Asian market, Seoul wants to be recognized as a platform capable of supporting European scale-ups in their journey toward global expansion.

“Our true measure of success is not reflected solely in numbers,” explains Jihyung Lee. “Real success occurs when the companies, institutions, and investors we have supported in Seoul recommend Seoul to others.”

In breakthrough industries, the reputation of an ecosystem often spreads faster than public policies themselves.

Pasqal, Quandela, and now several industrial AI companies are sending the same signal: in the new economy of critical technologies, the ability to industrialize rapidly is becoming almost as important as the ability to innovate.