South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT has named three consortiums, led by SK Telecom, KT and Kakao, to operate the government’s “AI for All” project, which will give every resident free access to artificial intelligence tools and services. The ministry picked the three groups from a pool of six applicants after assessing their service plans and technological capabilities.
The selected operators will receive a combined 512 Nvidia B200 graphics processing units from the government this year. Beginning in 2027, the government will also cover part of the costs of providing the service nationwide. The project is intended to build public AI services around Korean-developed models.
Under the requirements, each operator must use its own models alongside those developed by other companies to deliver general-purpose chatbot services as well as public and specialized AI agents. The ministry plans to sign agreements with the three operators in September and officially launch the service by the end of the year, following a beta period. Evaluation scores and rankings were not disclosed at the applicants’ request.
SK Telecom Consortium
The SK Telecom consortium brings together Liner, Shinhan Card, Hana Card, Tmap Mobility, SK Broadband, Persona AI, Elice Group, Goodoc, Soundable Health, Nota and Selectstar. Its primary model will be A.X K2, a large language model with 688 billion parameters developed as part of the government’s separate sovereign foundation model project. The group will also use Solar Open 2 from Upstage AI, Motif 3 from Motif Technologies and K-EXAONE 2.0 from LG AI Research.
KT Consortium
KT’s consortium includes Rebellions, Upstage AI, Motif Technologies, Daum, Musinsa, BC Card, Zigbang and the Korea Educational Broadcasting System. The group will rely mainly on KT’s Mi:dm K Pro 2.5 model, paired with Upstage AI’s Solar Pro 4 and Motif 3. KT plans to distribute AI access points through Daum’s portal and app as well as partner platforms including Danawa, Musinsa and Zigbang.
Kakao Consortium
Kakao’s consortium features Lunit, Seoul National University Hospital, Shinhan Bank, LG AI Research, LG CNS, LG Uplus, LG Electronics and FuriosaAI. It will use Kakao’s Kanana model alongside LG AI Research’s EXAONE and K-EXAONE 2.0. Kakao intends to make its messenger service the main entry point, letting users reach general-purpose chatbot functions and AI agents through a single integrated service.
Naver’s Absence
Naver, Korea’s largest mobile platform operator, did not take part in the project. The company said it considered joining but decided to focus on its existing AI businesses. Naver operates its own foundation model, HyperCLOVA X, but was reportedly concerned that the tight timeline and requirements, including the mandatory use of other companies’ models, would limit returns relative to the investment required. The company already offers free AI services on its own platforms.
Naver was removed in January from the government’s national foundation model project, the backbone for other government-led AI service and model efforts. At the time, the ministry excluded Naver over questions about HyperCLOVA X’s data independence rather than its technology, but the move later fed market doubts about the company’s AI competitiveness. That backdrop appears to have pushed Naver toward a more cautious stance on another government-led initiative, where a second setback could deepen concerns about its position in AI.