Six Companies, Including SKT, KT, and Kakao, Join National Free "AI for All" Project (Comprehensive)

LG Affiliates Join Kakao Consortium
Naver Cloud Ultimately Opts Out
2–3 Participants to Be Selected by Month-End; Service Launch Planned This Year

Leading mobile carriers and Kakao have applied to participate in the “AI for All” project, which will provide free nationwide AI services using domestically developed artificial intelligence models. The government aims to select service providers by the end of August, launch a beta service at the end of September, and begin the official service in December.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 18th that, as a result of its call for project partners for the “AI for All” initiative, a total of six companies (consortiums) have submitted proposals.

According to the Ministry, applications for the AI for All project closed at 5 p.m. on this day, with six companies—SK Telecom, KT, Kakao, ESTsoft, MKD, and Xenon—each forming their own consortium to compete. Naver Cloud, which had been considering participation, ultimately decided not to take part, while LG Group affiliates such as LG Uplus, initially expected to form their own consortium, joined the Kakao consortium instead.

The AI for All project is led by private companies with experience in developing nationwide services, aiming to reflect public demand and provide free AI-powered services to the public. Unlike global AI companies, which require users to subscribe to paid plans after a certain level of usage, this project will allow users unlimited access to essential AI features without restrictions.

Selected companies must utilize domestically developed AI models that meet the standards for proprietary foundation models, and these must account for more than 50% of the total. In addition, more than 30% of the AI models used must be domestic models from companies other than the lead provider. If necessary, foreign AI models may be used in a limited capacity for service purposes, but any use of these foreign models will not be eligible for government support.

Naver Cloud and Naver, previously considered leading contenders, have ultimately decided not to participate in the AI for All project. Naver Cloud explained that its decision was based on the need to focus on other ongoing projects.

Kakao, which had initially declared its intention to participate, included major LG Group affiliates—LG AI Research, LG Uplus, LG Electronics, and LG CNS—as members of its consortium. Although LG Uplus and other affiliates had expressed intent to join the project, they chose to participate as part of the Kakao consortium instead of forming a separate group. In addition to LG affiliates, the consortium includes Day1Company, Lunit, Seoul National University Hospital, Shinhan Bank, Worksphere LLP, Wonderful Platform, Jobis & Villains, Kakao Enterprise, Crowdworks, FuriosaAI, and other participants.

SK Telecom is leading its bid with the “A.Dot X K2” model, which passed the second stage evaluation of the proprietary AI foundation model (Dokpamo) project. The SKT consortium includes GoodDoc, Nota, the National Support Center for the Elderly Living Alone, Liner, Soundable Health Korea, SelectStar, Shinhan Card, Alfred, SK Broadband, A2SYS, AIM Intelligence, ELICE Group, Channel Corporation, Tmap Mobility, PersonaAI, Hana Card, Korea Association of Certified Public Tax Accountants Informatics Corporation, Habit Factory, Hashed Ventures, and more.

KT formed a consortium with companies experienced in the Dokpamo project, such as Upstage and Motif Technologies. Specifically, the group consists of Daum (a subsidiary of Upstage), DeepSearch, Rablup, Rebellion, Mathpresso, Motif Technologies, MUSINSA, VesselAI, BC Card, Saltlux, ActionPower, Upstage, NC AI, Zigbang, Connectwave, and the Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS).

ESTsoft put together a consortium with Megazone, Bidraft, SureSoftTech, WiseNut, EST Aid, Polaris Office, and the Korea Productivity Center. MKD and Xenon chose to participate individually without forming a consortium.

The government will evaluate the applicants by the end of August and select two to three participants for the “AI for All” project. The evaluation includes a review for qualification, as well as both written and presentation assessments. The written review will comprehensively assess ▲the competitiveness of the AI models and services, ▲GPU utilization and infrastructure operation, and ▲service development plans.

After final selection, the Ministry of Science and ICT plans to sign agreements with the chosen companies in September, followed by a beta launch at the end of September, and to officially roll out the AI for All chatbot service in December. In addition, an AI agent for public services—which allows users to receive advance notice about and apply for government services—will be provided through AI for All. After 2027, the AI agent will be further enhanced.

Companies selected for the project will receive support in the form of either 256 or 128 NVIDIA B200 GPUs, depending on the company. Government support will be provided for five years, from the date of the agreement until December 31, 2030.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.