Nationwide Call Draws 390 AI Ideas… 12 Finalist Teams Launch in ‘Everyone’s AI Lab’ Competition

A competition that turns ideas submitted directly by the public into working artificial intelligence (AI) services is entering its final round. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency will hold a kickoff ceremony in Seoul on October 1 with 12 teams selected through preliminary rounds across five regions nationwide, beginning roughly two months of service refinement.

[코리안투데이] Kickoff ceremony for the finalist teams of the 《Everyone’s AI Lab AI Service Competition》 © 장형임 기자

The Ministry of Science and ICT (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon) and the National Information Society Agency (President Kim Hyung-chul, hereinafter NIA) announced that they have finalized the 12 teams advancing to the final round of the 《Everyone’s AI Lab AI Service Competition》 and will hold a kickoff ceremony on October 1 at the SpaceShare Euljiro Ipgu Center in Seoul.

This competition is part of the 《Everyone’s AI Growth Ladder Project》 launched this past August. It was designed to support members of the public not only in learning and experiencing AI, but also in turning their own ideas into actual AI services that can lead to startups and commercialization.

The call for ideas ran from August 18 to September 6, drawing a total of 390 AI service proposals from across the country. The organizers evaluated problem definition and the need for each proposal, creativity and the appropriateness of AI use, and feasibility, advancing 50 teams to the preliminary round. Then, beginning with the Gyeongsang region on September 15 and continuing through the Jeolla-Jeju, Seoul metropolitan, Chungcheong and Gangwon regions, presentation evaluations were held at 《Everyone’s AI Lounges》 in five regions nationwide, and 12 teams ultimately advanced to the final round.

The ideas reaching the final round range widely, from resolving everyday inconveniences to tackling industrial, regional and public issues. They include life-oriented services such as gas station recommendations based on analysis of travel routes and fuel costs, scientific verification of the effectiveness claims in supplement advertisements, and personalized public-housing recommendations, alongside ideas addressing industrial and public challenges such as forecasting demand for greenhouse gas emission allowances, optimizing port arrivals, and predicting demand and order volumes for small business owners. The participants are also diverse, ranging from high school and university students to graduate students, office workers and public servants, each taking on the challenge of implementing as an AI service a problem they discovered in their own lives and workplaces.

About 60 people will attend the kickoff ceremony, including officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT and NIA, the 12 finalist teams, and representatives of mentor companies such as Kakao, Naver Cloud, NHN Cloud, LG Uplus and SKT. The event will introduce the finalist teams’ service ideas and announce the matching results between the mentor companies that will support development and the participating teams. Afterward, the teams and mentors will discuss the direction of service development and future tasks together.

From October, the finalist teams will receive about two months of intensive coaching and mentoring on service planning and technical implementation from AI and IT experts at each mentor company, refining their ideas into practically usable services. To help the teams focus on development, the Ministry of Science and ICT will also provide, through 《Everyone’s AI Lab》, public and private data and APIs, AI tokens that can be used for vibe coding, cloud resources and development support tools. 《Everyone’s AI Lab》 is open to anyone in the public to join and use, and registered members can receive resources needed for development, such as AI tokens, data and APIs. Details are available on the website (https://aitestbed.kr).

The refined services will undergo a final presentation evaluation this December to select the winners. With a total prize pool of 28 million won, the grand prize team will receive the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Award along with 10 million won, while the top excellence award team will receive the NIA President’s Award along with 5 million won. The organizers plan to pursue follow-up support so that the outstanding services discovered in the competition do not end with the event but can lead to startups and commercialization.

Lee Do-kyu, head of the Information and Communication Policy Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, ‘The gathering of 390 ideas from across the country shows the strong interest among the public in using AI to directly solve problems in their lives and workplaces,’ adding, ‘We will actively support the finalists so that, together with experts from leading domestic AI and IT companies, they can develop their ideas into working AI services that connect to startups and commercialization.’

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and ICT and NIA are also recruiting teams for the 《2026 Everyone’s AI Lab AI Service Development Project》 so that more members of the public can take on development. Under the theme ‘Turning the public’s ideas into AI services—supporting the challenge of 100 projects,’ this project will select up to 100 projects from individuals or teams seeking to implement AI services addressing everyday inconveniences, repetitive tasks, regional problems and startup ideas. The recruitment period runs from September 21 to October 8. Selected projects will each receive AI development points worth 1 million won and cloud resources worth 300,000 won per month, along with expert mentoring tailored to each stage and need. After the projects conclude, outstanding ones will be chosen as ‘Top-Tier’ projects at a results-sharing session, with a total of 100 million won in follow-up support provided for service refinement and commercialization. Application and details are available on the website (https://ablearn.kr/AI_lab).

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