The Ministry of Science and ICT (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bae Kyung-hoon) has selected three consortiums—SK Telecom (SKT), Kakao and KT (in Korean alphabetical order)—to carry out the ‘AI for All’ project, which aims to build a national flagship artificial intelligence service. The three operators will launch the service for the entire population within the year, following agreements and a beta phase in September.
 [코리안투데이] Announcement of the operators selected for the ‘AI for All’ project © 장형임 기자 |
The Science Ministry announced on the 28th that it had conducted written and presentation evaluations of the six operators (consortiums) that took part in the open call for the ‘AI for All’ project, ultimately selecting the SKT consortium, the Kakao consortium and the KT consortium as the project’s implementing bodies. The initiative is being pursued as part of the national policy agenda of ‘making Korea the country that uses AI best in the world.’
The selection was carried out in two stages. The written evaluation screened technical suitability—including the competitiveness of AI models and services, and plans for GPU utilization and infrastructure operation—to determine which bidders qualified. The subsequent presentation evaluation, which included a prototype video demonstration, comprehensively assessed service convenience and user-acquisition strategies, plans to ensure service quality and safety, and plans to contribute to the ecosystem. The evaluation scores and rankings were not disclosed, however, at the request of the participating companies.
The selected operators earned high marks for proposing a general-purpose AI chatbot capable of surpassing foreign AI, a public AI agent that handles complex application procedures so citizens do not miss out on benefits, and specialized services developed in collaboration with startups. The government plans to provide the three operators with 512 GPU B200 units this year, and from 2027 it will support the costs needed to deliver the service to the entire population through the government budget.
The SKT consortium put forward an ‘AI that starts with a single question and finishes everyday tasks on your behalf,’ developing an execution-oriented service that handles everything from planning to execution and result verification with a single request. It can be used not only via app and web but also by phone and text message, allowing seniors unfamiliar with smartphone apps and digitally vulnerable groups to use it without any separate installation. For stores and public offices that lack an official API, it implements an agent function that looks up contact information through search and then connects via a phone-call proxy, and it also offers specialized services in everyday fields such as health and finance. The models used include A.X K2, Solar Open 2, Motif 3 and K-EXAONE 2.0, and participating organizations include Goodoc, the Korea Central Center for the Support of Senior Citizens Living Alone, Shinhan Card and TMAP Mobility.
The Kakao consortium aims for an ‘AI that completes reservations, applications and payments within the national messenger,’ using the messenger that citizens use every day as an entry point to provide an integrated general-purpose chatbot and AI agent. Together with LG Uplus, it will release a Lite version of a general-purpose phone AI service within the year and expand it in stages, and by linking with PlayMCP and an AI agent marketplace it will help promising AI companies directly build, test and distribute specialized agents. It will also provide life-stage-specific services such as senior care and tax affairs. The models used include Kanana, EXAONE and K-EXAONE 2.0, with participants including Seoul National University Hospital, Shinhan Bank, LG CNS and FuriosaAI.
The KT consortium advocates an ‘AI that brings public and everyday services together in a single conversation,’ offering integrated support—within one conversational flow—that spans information search, comparison and judgment through to the execution and management of public and specialized services. It will place AI entry points not only across the search, news and content pathways of the Daum portal and app but also on partner channels such as Danawa, Musinsa and Zigbang, and by linking KT’s telecom channels and media such as IPTV, it will let users start using AI anywhere in daily life. It will also support specialized services in everyday fields such as education and real estate. The models used include Mi:dm K Pro 2.5, Solar Pro 4 and Motif 3, with participating organizations including Daum, Rebellions, Upstage and the Korea Educational Broadcasting System.
The Science Ministry plans to sign agreements with the three operators in September and to formally launch ‘AI for All’ within the year after a beta phase. To this end, it will immediately form a working-level council with the selected operators and will hold parallel consultations with relevant ministries for measures such as linking public data. In particular, the operators and the government will jointly work on improving public accessibility, branding and promotion so that ‘AI for All’ establishes itself as Korea’s flagship AI service.
Because this project provides AI not to a limited segment of the population but through channels citizens are already familiar with—such as phone, text message and messenger—it is regarded as a first step toward creating a universal AI usage environment that embraces even the digitally vulnerable. If public agents that handle complex administrative procedures are actually realized, the inconvenience faced by citizens who missed out on benefits due to the information gap is also expected to ease.
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