Korea's free government-backed 'AI for Everyone' chatbots begin closed beta

Closed beta testing of 'AI for Everyone' (모두의 AI), a free AI service for all Koreans backed by the Ministry of Science and ICT, began on 16 October, as reported by Hankook Ilbo, citing the IT industry. Consortia led by SK Telecom, KT and Kakao are each testing their own service with a limited group of affiliates and public-agency staff, ahead of a planned full launch in December. The project starts as a general-purpose chatbot with no cost or usage limits and is planned to grow into AI agents that handle everyday tasks such as applying for public services and making bookings. According to the report, SK Telecom is focusing on AI that can be used by phone call or text message without an app, KT is adding AI to existing services such as Daum, Danawa and Zigbang, and Kakao plans to handle public-service applications, bookings and payments through KakaoTalk. Each consortium aims for 5 million monthly active users by the end of the year (15 million combined), and the government is supporting the three consortia with 512 GPUs and a budget of 250 billion won (2,500억 원) next year.

What it means for business: a free, state-backed AI service reaching millions of Koreans will raise expectations for AI features in consumer and public-service apps there, and could change the market for paid chatbots in Korea.