South Korea Pushes 'AI for All' Initiative! Three Firms Including SK Telecom Advance to Final Round; Winners to Receive 512 NVIDIA B100 Chips from Government

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT announced today (18th) that SK Telecom, LG AI Research Institute, and Upstage—an AI startup renowned for its self-developed foundational large model Solar—have advanced to the next stage of the government's 'AI for All' support project. The goal of this initiative is to develop an AI service that will be freely accessible to all citizens.

The 'AI for All' project is one of the central initiatives under the South Korean government's broader vision to build an 'AI-based society.' Under this ambitious social vision, the government aims to bridge the digital divide and ensure equitable access to advanced AI services for all people, regardless of income level, age group, or digital literacy.

These three companies were selected from an initial pool of four candidates. The other contender, Motif Technologies, was eliminated after ranking last in the second-round comprehensive evaluation. The selection criteria included benchmark testing, expert assessment, and real-user experience evaluations.

To ensure the healthy development of the domestic AI ecosystem, the South Korean government has also set strict technical standards. Selected companies must use locally developed AI models—those meeting the government's 'Foundational Large Model Independence Standard'—in at least 50% of their systems.

Furthermore, if a company possesses its own self-developed foundational large model, more than 30% of its system must incorporate AI models developed by other domestic firms. This requirement is designed to promote technological exchange and diversity across the industry.

In terms of resource support, the South Korean government plans to provide up to 512 NVIDIA B200 GPUs to the two or three final awardees, helping meet their computational needs, with the goal of officially launching the service within this year.

Starting in 2027, the South Korean government will allocate budgetary support to fully cover the operational costs of running these AI models nationwide, demonstrating a strong commitment to widespread AI adoption.