South Korea has chosen SK Telecom, KT and Kakao to build free artificial-intelligence services for the public under its Everyone’s AI project. The Ministry of Science and ICT selected the three groups from six applicants after reviewing their AI models, service competitiveness, user-acquisition plans and safety, according to Korean reports.
Three platforms, three routes to users
- SK Telecom
- KT
- Kakao
The goal is broader than another general-purpose chatbot. The government wants the services to act as AI agents that can help complete tasks such as searching for information, making reservations and submitting applications. The selected companies will receive government support including graphics-processing-unit resources and are expected to launch their services within the year.
Each operator is also approaching distribution differently. SK Telecom plans access not only through apps and the web but through phone calls and text messages, with a system designed to carry a request from information gathering through planning and task completion. KT plans to place AI functions across partner channels including Daum, Musinsa and Zigbang. The evidence available for this selection does not establish a final common feature set, so the practical differences between the three services will become clearer only when they launch.
For users, the promise is simple: access to capable Korean AI services without a subscription fee and through channels they may already use. For the government, the harder test is whether providing computing support creates services people repeatedly choose rather than subsidized demonstrations. The ministry did not publish the detailed evaluation scores cited in the collected reporting, leaving limited visibility into how the winning bids compared. Launches later this year will provide the first real measure of whether the project converts public AI investment into useful everyday tools.