South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT launches a public tender to build and run an “AI for Everyone” programme that is intended to give all 52 million residents free, unlimited access to an AI chatbot. The plan is positioned as a first-of-its-kind public service among G20 countries. Digital Trends reports the service would include a domestically powered chatbot and a separate agent designed to help people navigate government services. The Next Web and Slashdot describe the chatbot as a universal offering, with availability planned for an initial beta period in September.
According to Slashdot, the procurement asks private suppliers to create and operate the systems under contracts that run until 2031. The government would provide up to 256 Nvidia B200 GPUs to successful bidders, and winners must match government funding. The tender also calls for an “agentic” system for citizen-government interactions, aiming to reduce reliance on overseas providers and to ensure services use locally developed models. Bidders must submit proposals by August 11, with reports that major local companies such as Kakao, Naver, SK Telecom, and LG are interested.
