South Korea's leading IT firms, including SK Telecom (017670.KS), KT (030200.KS) and Kakao (035720.KS), have thrown their hats into the government's "AI for All" project, which aims to build an artificial intelligence service that all citizens can use for free. The three major telecom carriers and Kakao joined as lead or participating companies, while Naver (035420.KS), owner of the flagship domestic AI model HyperCLOVA X, stayed out.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said on the 18th that six operators — SK Telecom, MKD, ESTsoft, Xenon, Kakao and KT — submitted proposals for the "AI for All" project.
AI for All is a project to build AI chatbots and public AI agents that any citizen can use without cost or usage limits. The aim is to expand the use of homegrown AI models in a generative AI market dominated by global big tech, while improving public access to AI. Participating operators must use their own domestic AI models — those meeting the criteria for an independent AI foundation model — for at least 50 percent of the service, and must use domestic models from other Korean firms for at least 30 percent.
The firms that submitted proposals formed consortiums spanning a range of sectors, from AI model developers to companies in semiconductors, platforms, finance, healthcare and education. The KT consortium includes Upstage, Motif Technologies and NC AI. Upstage passed the second-round evaluation for the independent AI foundation model announced the same day, Motif Technologies failed it, and NC AI had been dropped in an earlier evaluation — the three joined hands in a single consortium. SK Telecom entered with its own consortium, while LG Uplus (032640.KS) joined the Kakao consortium. The Kakao consortium includes LG affiliates such as LG AI Research, LG CNS and LG Electronics (066570.KS), along with FuriosaAI, Lunit, Seoul National University Hospital and Shinhan Bank.
Companies are flocking to AI for All because it offers a chance to test their AI models and services with tens of millions of users and to build a user base. If the independent AI foundation model program is a contest of the underlying technology of domestic AI models, AI for All is another arena where those models are applied to real services and reach users.
The ministry will review the eligibility of submitted documents and conduct written and presentation evaluations before selecting operators late this month. It then plans to sign agreements and run a beta service before launching the full service within the year.
