South Korea unveils a project with KT, SK Telecom, and Kakao to provide premium AI tools to the public for free, a move that treats AI like a public utility (Jiyoung Sohn/Wall Street Journal)

Seoul, August 28 - The South Korean science ministry has chosen three teams to develop an accessible artificial intelligence (AI) service as part of the government's "AI for all" initiative, announced on Friday. The chosen consortia are led by SK Telecom Co., KT Corp., and Kakao Corp., with each receiving 512 B200 graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia to bring their project to fruition.

The expenses for launching the service in the upcoming year will be funded by government budgets. The science ministry intends to sign agreements with the consortia next month, with the anticipated official launch of each AI service by the end of the year.

The "AI for all" project was initiated by the government in July as part of its efforts to create an "AI-basic society," where individuals can utilize AI services without considering factors such as income, age, or digital literacy. Developers participating in the project are mandated to incorporate at least 50 percent of domestic AI models that comply with the ministry's independent foundation-model standards. Out of the six consortia that applied for the project, applications closed in mid-August.