South Korean government pays for everyone to use AI for free: 512 NVIDIA B200s in place, testing starts in September
The South Korean government is paying to give all citizens free access to AI: 512 NVIDIA B200s are in place, with testing to begin in September. On August 28, South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT announced the final operators for the "AI for All" project, with three consortia—SK Telecom, Kakao, and KT—winning out of six bidders. According to the ministry's official timetable, Beta testing will begin in September, and in December
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The South Korean government is paying to give all citizens free access to AI: 512 NVIDIA B200s are in place, with testing to begin in September. On August 28, South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT
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South Korean Government Pays for Free AI Access for All Citizens: 512 NVIDIA B200s in Place, Testing Begins in September
On August 28, South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT announced the final operators for the "AI for All" project, with three consortia led by SK Telecom, Kakao, and KT winning out from six bidders. According to the ministry's official timeline, beta testing begins in September, full launch before December, and starting in 2027, the cost of nationwide service will be covered by the government budget.
Free, and Unlimited
The core terms of this project come down to two things: free and unlimited.
South Korean mainstream media reports are consistent: all citizens can use general-purpose AI chatbots and public AI Agents for free and without restrictions, regardless of income, age, or digital literacy. The ministry also set a bottom line for operators: even if usage exceeds the GPU capacity provided by the government, basic AI functions must remain free — companies can only profit through value-added services.
All three will launch standalone apps while embedding AI into existing websites, phone, and SMS channels. Elderly users accustomed to older tools won't need to learn new interfaces — they can just make a phone call or send a text.
Agents That Get Things Done for You
This project goes far beyond chatbots. The tender requirements are explicit: these AIs must be able to complete tasks on behalf of users, covering healthcare, finance, education, housing, and various government administrative applications.
Each of the three has a different approach. SK Telecom takes the "action-oriented" route — the AI can make calls and send texts to businesses and government agencies on behalf of users, covering 83 types of certificate processing alone, and everyday tasks like restaurant reservations can be delegated with a single sentence. Kakao embeds the Agent directly into KakaoTalk, which Koreans use daily, so bookings, applications, and payments all happen in one chat window. KT leverages telecom and IPTV channels, offering SMEs tax calculations and government subsidy eligibility checks, and pushing educational content to parents.
Half the Compute Must Go to Domestic Models
Behind the free service is a hard trade-off: at least 50% of each system must run on South Korea's own foundation models. SK Telecom uses its own A.X K2 and K-EXAONE 2.0, while KT uses Mi:dm K Pro 2.5.
Government support is equally direct. This year, the three companies collectively received 512 NVIDIA B200s, and starting in 2027, the operating costs of nationwide service will come from the fiscal budget. South Korea's 2026 AI-related budget is approximately 10 trillion won — roughly $7.2 billion — triple that of the previous year.
512 GPUs for 50 Million People?
On paper, there are questions. South Korea's population is nearly 50 million, and 512 B200s would need to handle unlimited nationwide requests. Compared to international giants' clusters of tens of thousands of GPUs, this compute allocation looks more like staking a position first and scaling as they go. The ministry hasn't set a hard target for user numbers, stating simply that "if the general public can use it, they should."
Another point worth noting: the tender terms allow the three companies to use user prompt data generated during service to develop their own business models. Part of the price of "free" is paid in data.
National-Level User Acquisition Has Begun
The South Korean government's calculus isn't subtle. ChatGPT is currently the fastest-growing generative AI app in South Korea, and domestic models can't compete head-on in user numbers. South Korea's choice is for the government to directly provide compute, budget, and administrative access points, funneling tens of millions of citizens into the domestic AI ecosystem in one stroke — using the first round of free experience to build usage habits, then normalizing subsidies.
South Korea itself is one of the markets with the highest willingness to pay for AI globally, with a quarter of the population willing to pay for AI, compared to just 2% in the US. The government is essentially tearing down the paywall in an already-proven paid market.
AI competition has shifted from company versus company to nation versus nation. In this round, South Korea has made the first move.
Written by our editorial team; tools listed here are tested or verified against public sources. Links point to official sites or GitHub repos for reference only — no paid placements.
