South Korea’s government has issued specific guidelines for ‘AI for All,’ a free general-purpose artificial intelligence service for all citizens, requiring that domestically developed AI models account for more than 80% of the technology used. Foreign models will be permitted only on a restricted basis in areas where domestic technology cannot serve as a substitute, limited to the “minimum necessary” scope.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) held a briefing session on the 21st at Front One in Seoul’s Mapo-gu district, unveiling the bidding criteria centered on these requirements. The event drew over 100 attendees from major South Korean AI companies, including the three telecom operators — SK Telecom (017670.KS), KT (030200.KS), and LG Uplus (032640.KS) — as well as Kakao (035720.KS), Upstage, Estsoft, Konan Technology, and Liner, reflecting strong industry interest.
The Ministry anticipates up to approximately 10 consortia will participate in the bidding process, with plans to ultimately select three operators. Selected bidders will receive 512 units of Nvidia’s cutting-edge B200 graphics processing units (GPUs) this year. The Ministry believes this infrastructure alone will be sufficient to deliver beta and full services for a general-purpose AI chatbot and public AI agents by year-end.
The central pillar of the bidding process is undoubtedly the mandatory usage ratio for domestic AI models. According to the bidding guide, participating companies must utilize domestic models with performance equivalent to an independent AI foundation model for at least 50% of the overall service. Additionally, to promote the domestic AI ecosystem, at least 30% of the service must incorporate AI models developed by other domestic companies. Combined, these two conditions effectively require over 80% domestic model usage.
Furthermore, the government has clarified its principles on foreign AI model usage. Foreign models may only be used on a “minimum necessary” basis, strictly limited to areas or services that cannot be implemented using models purely developed by domestic companies. This is widely interpreted as a strong policy signal aimed at steering participants toward 100% domestic model utilization.
Regarding consortium formation, provisions have been established to address equity concerns when large corporations participate. If a consortium includes even one large corporation as a lead or participating member, it will be subject to double the self-financing requirement compared to small and medium-sized enterprises or startups, along with separate penalty points. Consortium composition is otherwise unrestricted.
Gong Jin-ho, a director at the Ministry of Science and ICT, emphasized during the briefing, “The vision is for all citizens to learn AI as they would the Korean alphabet or arithmetic, and to use AI as easily and freely as a calculator.” He added, “We will support the realization of an ‘AI basic society’ where AI agents create added value, and the benefits generated by AI are distributed to everyone rather than concentrated in specific companies.”
The government plans to fully launch the general-purpose AI chatbot and public AI agent services by year-end, and to secure next year’s support budget through consultations with fiscal authorities, with the aim of upgrading services so that every citizen can have “one agent per person.”
Kakao’s participation in the project is drawing particular attention. According to Chosun Biz, the tech-focused publication of The Chosun Ilbo, Kakao is pursuing involvement in the government’s ‘AI for All’ project as part of efforts to revive its AI business. While Kakao has not yet confirmed whether it will participate independently or as part of a consortium, the company is aiming to achieve two objectives through the project: acquiring users and strengthening its AI service competitiveness.
Kakao’s determination to secure a role in ‘AI for All’ stems from the underperformance of its own AI services. ‘Kanana in KakaoTalk’ and ‘ChatGPT for Kakao,’ which the company has positioned as new growth engines, have yet to produce meaningful results capable of reviving market expectations. Samsung Securities analyst Oh Dong-hwan noted in this regard, “Kakao needs to redesign its AI services from the ground up with a demand-side rather than supply-side focus.”
Nevertheless, Kakao is viewed as having a strong chance of selection, as it meets most of the bidding requirements. The government’s adoption of an approach combining multiple AI models aligns with Kakao’s ‘AI orchestration’ strategy. This involves combining proprietary and external models depending on the service or function, with Kakao having consistently emphasized that from the user’s perspective, receiving fast and accurate answers matters more than which model is used.
Additionally, Kakao participated in the Ministry of Science and ICT’s ‘Independent AI Foundation Model’ project to develop its proprietary base model ‘Kanana,’ and also has experience integrating models from strategic partner OpenAI into KakaoTalk. Its experience co-operating the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s ‘AI Public Assistant’ chatbot alongside Naver is also regarded as valuable know-how for large-scale user-facing services.
If selected, Kakao expects that government support will alleviate the burden of inference and infrastructure costs associated with user growth, while enabling it to naturally channel KakaoTalk users into AI services without separate large-scale marketing. The company’s broader plan is to use this as an opportunity to experiment with revenue models combining advertising, commerce, and AI, and to demonstrate commercial viability.
A Kakao representative stated, “Building on KakaoTalk’s service planning and operational capabilities, which have connected the daily lives of 50 million people, we will create an everyday AI service that anyone can use without barriers.”