South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT, led by Minister Bae Kyung-hoon, is building a free, general-purpose AI chatbot and agent for all citizens under a project dubbed "AI for Everyone." The service enters public beta in September and begins full operations in December, funded to remain free through 2028.
The chatbot must run on domestic Korean AI models for at least half of its underlying system, part of a push for "AI sovereignty": nearly 23 million of South Korea's 51 million citizens currently use ChatGPT, and roughly half the population has adopted generative AI tools. The launch coincides with the country's new AI Basic Act taking effect, which mandates content labeling, safety management and transparency rules across 10 sensitive sectors.
A more advanced version planned for 2027 will proactively flag government benefits and handle applications on users' behalf, alongside personalized help with asset management, learning and retirement planning. The ministry is accepting bids from private operators through August 11, aiming to select two or three companies to run the free service.