Abstract:
The South Korean government is preparing to provide free generative artificial intelligence services to people across the country to help people handle daily affairs such as making medical appointments, finding housing, and handling taxes. The plan aims to expand the coverage of local AI systems while strengthening government participation in AI applications in daily public services.
This plan, called "AI for All," will start testing in September and then expand later this year. The South Korean government announced on Friday the three selected technology consortiums, including a team led by the country's two major telecom operators, as well as a team involving the operator of South Korea's well-known consumer platform Kakao.
These services are expected to be connected to government systems and not just exist as stand-alone chatbots. Residents can use AI to make appointments with doctors, check apartment listings and get tax advice; small and micro businesses can use it to calculate taxes and verify whether they qualify for government support; parents can get educational content recommendations.
The three consortiums all plan to launch their own AI applications and add generative AI functions to existing products. Under the government-supported plan, users can use related services without restrictions and will not be restricted by the upper limit on the number of word elements.
The Korean government will provide some of the computing resources required for the project's operation, and plans to allocate up to 512 Nvidia B200 chips to the three consortiums and help bear operating costs. South Korea's Ministry of Science, Technology, Information and Communications has not disclosed the total project budget.
The plan is also part of South Korea's efforts to strengthen its local AI industry and reduce its reliance on the United States and China to develop systems. The government hopes to guide more consumers to switch to domestically developed AI products by making services with advanced functions free of charge.
South Korea already has a large generative AI market. A government survey earlier this year showed that about a quarter of South Koreans are paying for AI services; by comparison, a survey by PNC Bank showed that about 2% of people in the United States paid to use such services. The South Korean government estimates that more than 20 million people across the country already use free generative AI tools.
This promotion is supported by larger investments in AI. The Lee Jae-myung administration has set aside about 10 trillion won, or about $7.2 billion, for AI-related spending in 2026, about three times the previous year's allocation.
For South Korea, this project will test whether generative AI can become part of the country’s basic digital infrastructure. Its success will depend on whether the system is reliable enough for people to use it with confidence for practical, day-to-day transactions. Currently, the South Korean government has not set specific user adoption targets for the new service.
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