South Korea Plans Free AI Access for Every Citizen
South Korea is preparing to give every citizen free, unlimited access to artificial intelligence under President Lee Jae Myung’s “AI for All” initiative. A beta service is due later this month, offering general-purpose chatbots and AI agents built by consortiums led by SK Telecom, KT and Kakao. The programme could become a permanent public utility next year, extending AI into government services, healthcare, education and daily life while lowering barriers to access.
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The government has earmarked an additional 250 billion won for the roll-out through 2027, alongside a 10 trillion won AI budget for the current financial year. Hundreds of Nvidia B200 graphics processors will be lent to the three consortiums developing the initial services.
Officials envisage the temporary trial becoming a permanent, taxpayer-funded service from next year. It could eventually connect with government systems, letting citizens use AI intermediaries to arrange medical appointments, search for homes and seek tax guidance.
Seoul is pairing the expansion with safeguards under its AI Basic Act, which took effect in January. The law calls for human oversight, impact assessments and watermarking of synthetic content. A state-funded AI Safety Institute will evaluate risks, while ethics principles include accountability, privacy, fairness and a human-centred approach.
The project also supports South Korea’s ambition to rank among the world’s three leading AI powers. Officials see the technology as a response to the country’s shrinking workforce and a way to strengthen its export economy.
However, the rapid roll-out comes amid concerns about job losses, deepfake crime, declining reading scores and dependence on foreign platforms. Government figures cited by SCMP show 23.45 million active ChatGPT users, 8.45 million Gemini users and 2.41 million Claude users in South Korea.
The government has also highlighted the risk that overseas providers could restrict access. In July, it announced plans to develop a domestic cybersecurity-focused AI model by the end of this year.
Source: SCMP
