South Korea’s major platform companies and telecom operators are successively throwing their hats into the ring for the government-led nationwide artificial intelligence service project, ‘AI for All.’ In particular, attention is focused on whether Kakao\u2014which previously failed to qualify for the government’s ‘Independent Foundation Model’ program due to insufficient competitiveness of its proprietary AI model\u2014can reassert its AI capabilities by leveraging the national messenger app KakaoTalk, now that it has officially confirmed its participation.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Science and ICT launched the public tender for ‘AI for All’ on the 13th. The project involves private operators combining multiple domestic AI models to provide a generative AI chatbot service free of charge to all South Korean citizens. The government plans to select two to three operators through an evaluation process in August, launch a beta service in September, and officially release the service by year-end.<\/p>\n
Kakao has officially announced its intention to participate in the project. A Kakao representative stated, “Based on KakaoTalk’s service planning and operational expertise, which has connected the daily lives of 50 million people, we will implement a ‘lifestyle-integrated AI service’ that every citizen can access without barriers.” Kakao is currently integrating its proprietary AI model ‘Kanana’ into KakaoTalk to transform it into an agentic AI platform, and is also operating a pilot ‘AI National Assistant’ service in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, supporting public service reservations and electronic certificate issuance.<\/p>\n
Kakao’s latest bid is interpreted as a strategy to engineer a turnaround in its AI business following its elimination in the first round of evaluation for the government’s independent foundation model program. At the time, Kakao was disqualified for failing to meet the ‘from scratch’ criteria. However, Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a expressed expectations for the ‘AI for All’ project during a conference call last year, stating, “The sovereign AI direction mentioned by the government and Kakao’s AI strategy are ultimately converging in one direction.” A Kakao representative emphasized, “We have consistently conducted research and development to create our own models, transplant them into services, and enhance external usability. We possess sufficient technical capabilities in model development.”<\/p>\n
Notably, the core requirements of the ‘AI for All’ project align with Kakao’s ‘AI Orchestration’ strategy. Selected operators must utilize their own foundation models for over 50% of the service while also mandatorily incorporating other domestic AI models for at least 30%. Kakao has consistently emphasized a strategy of combining proprietary and external models depending on the service and functionality, rather than relying on a single model.<\/p>\n
LG Uplus has also officially confirmed its participation, joining the competition. Based on its ‘One LG’ collaborative framework with LG AI Research, the company plans to concentrate group-level capabilities by combining its proprietary AI model ‘Exaone’ with the AI platform ‘ixi-O.’ SK Telecom stated, “As we possess full-stack AI capabilities, including proprietary foundation model development, nationwide service operations based on ‘A.’, and AI data center construction, we will decide on participation after a thorough review.” KT is also conducting an internal review.<\/p>\n
Naver is also weighing the possibility of participation. Naver recently officially launched its AI search service ‘AI Tab,’ based on its proprietary AI model ‘HyperCLOVA X,’ to all users, expanding its integrated AI agent strategy. A Naver Cloud representative said, “The final decision will be made after reviewing the request for proposal.”<\/p>\n
AI startups and mid-sized companies are also actively exploring participation through consortium formation. ESTsoft has officially declared group-level participation and is reviewing the formation of an open consortium combining its agentic AI ‘Alan,’ AI avatar service ‘Persona AI,’ and portal ‘ZUM.’ Upstage, which possesses its own language model ‘Solar,’ and Liner, which operates a global AI search service, are also positively reviewing participation. A Liner representative stated, “We are reviewing the formation of a consortium in which Liner plays a leading role.” Other companies such as Saltlux, WiseNut, Konan Technology, Wrtn Technologies, and NCSoft’s AI subsidiary NC AI are also weighing their participation.<\/p>\n
The reason companies are focusing on the ‘AI for All’ project is clear. The government will support up to 512 Nvidia B200 GPUs necessary for service launch and plans to subsidize service operation costs with government budget starting from 2027, significantly reducing the initial investment burden. Additionally, the ability to utilize user prompt data acquired during service operations to enhance proprietary AI models, and to build a nationwide service reference that provides a competitive edge in future public and corporate market pursuits, are also attractive factors.<\/p>\n
However, significant challenges remain. There is considerable pressure to actually implement a self-sustaining revenue model that can support a nationwide free service. Given the large-scale user base, the risk borne by companies in the event of service disruptions is also substantial. Industry observers note that the tight schedule\u2014operator selection in August, beta service in September, and official launch in December\u2014will also act as a variable. Furthermore, the method and scale of GPU support after 2027 are subject to determination following consultations between relevant ministries and the National Assembly, making medium-to-long-term policy support uncertainty another issue to resolve.<\/p>\n
An AI industry insider commented, “The key is whether a self-sustaining revenue model can actually be implemented to continuously provide a nationwide free service. As a public-facing service, the risk borne by companies in the event of service disruptions will not be insignificant.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and ICT plans to conduct the public tender until August 11, followed by document evaluation and presentation assessment, with final operator selection scheduled for August. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon stated, “AI for All is not merely a service, but the calculator and computer of the AI era, supporting our citizens to work, learn, and lead their daily lives with AI. I urge not only companies and the government, but also the public, to actively use our AI and show great interest and support so that we can develop it together.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Korea’s major platform companies and telecom operators are successively throwing their hats into the ring for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[622],"tags":[16293,45969,827,15962,2095,45970,1042,657,45971,1364,871],"class_list":["post-86786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kakao","tag-ai-for-all","tag-estsoft","tag-kakao","tag-kanana","tag-lg-uplus","tag-liner","tag-ministry-of-science-and-ict","tag-naver","tag-nvidia-b200","tag-sk-telecom","tag-upstage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}