SK Telecom, Kakao, and KT have been selected as operators for the “AI for All” project, which provides free artificial intelligence (AI) services to the entire population. With government support for computing resources and budget, these companies plan to introduce general-purpose AI chatbots and everyday AI agent services within this year.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 28th that it had conducted document and presentation evaluations of six consortia that participated in the call for proposals, and selected three. The document evaluation examined AI model and service competitiveness, plans for using graphics processing units (GPUs), and infrastructure operation. The presentation evaluation comprehensively assessed service convenience and user acquisition strategies, plans to ensure quality and safety, and contributions to the domestic AI ecosystem.

“AI for All” is a project aimed at providing the public with AI services that go beyond simple question-and-answer chatbots to handle practical daily tasks such as search, reservations, and applications. The SK Telecom consortium plans to develop an executable AI service that can be used not only via applications (apps) and the web, but also by phone and text message, in order to improve accessibility for older adults and other digitally vulnerable groups. It will also provide specialized services in everyday fields such as health and finance.

The Kakao consortium will use KakaoTalk and other widely used messaging services as the entry point for its AI services. Through conversational interaction, it will process everything from reservations and applications to payments, and build an ecosystem in which external companies can develop and distribute a variety of AI agents. The KT consortium plans to introduce a service that connects AI with various platforms such as Daum, Musinsa, and Zigbang, allowing users to complete everything from information search to public and lifestyle service execution within a single conversation.

The government will support the three operators selected this year with a total of 512 NVIDIA B200 GPUs and, starting next year, will also fund service operating costs through the budget. After signing agreements in September, the project plans to go through a beta service phase and launch full services within the year.

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