SKT, KT, and Kakao CEOs Gather... "Everyone's Free AI" to Launch This Year, Ushering in the Era of "One Person, Multiple Agents" (Comprehensive)

Plans Announced by Each Consortium: SK Telecom, Kakao, and KT
Targeting 5 Million MAU in Beta Service by Year-End
"Focusing on Collaboration Over Competition... Aiming for a Truly Public Service"

The government is officially launching the "Everyone’s AI" project, which aims to provide artificial intelligence (AI) services to all citizens free of charge, with a target to roll it out within this year. Each consortium plans to offer a beta service by November and aims for an official launch before the year’s end, with a goal of securing 5 million monthly active users (MAU).

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, Huhun Bae, is speaking at the kickoff meeting for the "Everyone's AI Project" held at the Seoul Press Center on September 4, 2026. Photo by Cho Yongjun

Baek Gung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, stated at the kickoff meeting for the "Everyone’s AI" project held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on September 4, “It won’t be easy to succeed unless we create new AI services and business models that generate new value,” adding, “Above all, my emphasis is on enabling everyone to use AI so we can eliminate AI-induced bias and advance toward a fundamental AI society.”

At the meeting, the Ministry of Science and ICT listened to the service development plans of the three selected consortia and discussed ways to collaborate. In order to launch a service within this year that allows all citizens to utilize it easily and conveniently, public AI agent connectivity, privacy and security measures, and private-public partnership strategies for user acquisition were proposed. After the kickoff meeting, the Everyone’s AI service will go through a beta period until November, with the official release scheduled for December. During the beta phase, a group composed of citizens and experts will be operated to gather feedback for service improvement.

SK Telecom, Kakao, and KT Aim for 5 Million MAU This Year

The three lead companies of the consortia—SK Telecom, Kakao, and KT—announced their service development plans, including demonstrations of the Everyone’s AI service prototypes.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Baek Kyung-Hoon is speaking at the launch meeting of the "Everyone's AI Project" held at the Seoul Press Center on September 4, 2026. Photo by Jo Yong-Jun

The Kakao consortium introduced its plan to establish the "Everyone’s AI" platform, which would provide public and specialized AI agents and a general-purpose chatbot based on domestic AI models such as Kakao’s Kanana and LG’s EXAONE, all accessible through familiar channels like KakaoTalk and phone calls. The platform enables users to complete activities such as information searches, applications, reservations, and payments in a single conversational flow. It also plans to gradually expand individualized AI agents and an open agent marketplace to improve public access to AI, while advancing domestic AI models and promoting business opportunities for Korean AI companies.

The Kakao consortium aims to secure 5 million MAU with the service launch in December this year. By February 2027, it plans to reach 10 million MAU, and 30 million by 2030. Kakao CEO Jeong Shina stated, “We will expand from one agent per person to a model where several agents collaborate for one individual. Our goal is not just to create AI for display, but AI that is genuinely useful and essential in everyday life for everyone.”

The KT consortium introduced “Eum,” a service that connects a real-time search-based general-purpose AI agent with specialized AI services in more than 10 sectors, including public services, education, finance, and shopping. By integrating domestic AI models with GPUs and NPUs, and automatically connecting them through the Token Factory AI operations platform, KT plans to pool domestic AI ecosystem capabilities and develop an open platform that drives growth of the national AI ecosystem.

KT set a target of 5 million MAU this year and explained that it has implemented a system capable of handling 20 million MAU traffic by next year. KT CEO Park Yoon Young said, “We will build AI that not only provides answers, but also links to real-world execution. We’ll do our best so citizens can say, ‘This is truly impressive.’”

The SK Telecom consortium announced plans to provide executable AI services that handle every step from authentication to application and payment. By adding phone and text-based agent features, the consortium aims to make the service easy for users who have difficulty with mobile apps or web environments. SK Telecom targets 5 million MAU this year and 10 million next year.

SK Telecom CEO Jeong Jae Heon said, “Given that AI has become a strategic asset for countries, continued reliance on foreign services means citizens’ daily lives could be disrupted if those services become unavailable for any reason. We'll do our utmost from a national perspective, not just as a business, to ensure the service is convenient and compatible with citizens’ lifestyles and our social system.”

"Collaboration Over Competition Among Consortia... Creating an Environment to Build Core AI Competencies"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, Hongno Bae, is speaking at the kickoff meeting for the "AI for All Project" held on September 4, 2026, at the Seoul Press Center. Photo by Jo Yongjun

Participating consortia companies also made requests to the government. Kwon Yong Hyun, Executive Vice President of LG Uplus, asked for proactive efforts to support the provision of multiple public services through a single channel.

Upstage CEO Kim Sung Hoon said, “If linking public services to foreign companies such as OpenAI is restricted and made available only through Everyone’s AI, it could provide a meaningful distinction.” Nota CEO Chae Myung Soo argued, “Since this is a national public service, rather than focusing on alliances or competition, it would be best to concentrate on how to provide citizens with the highest quality service.”

Deputy Prime Minister Baek Gung-hoon said, “We will not induce competition between consortia. To move forward with a united identity, cooperation and joint work between consortia will be essential.” He added, “We will continue building an environment where everyone, without bias, can develop the core competencies needed to live in the age of AI.”

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