South Korea selected SK Telecom, KT and a Kakao consortium as operators for the nationwide “AI for Everyone” project, the science ministry said on Thursday. The consortiums will use their lead organisations’ strengths to launch public-facing AI services this year. Evaluations reviewed model and service competitiveness, GPU use and infrastructure plans, plus convenience, user acquisition strategies, quality and safety. The ministry plans contracts in September, a beta service and formal launch this year.

Naver and Kakao are moving to secure everyday data to raise personalisation in artificial intelligence services. Naver is collecting visit, order and payment data through its offline payment terminal and linking it with existing search and booking information. Kakao is focusing on remembering users’ schedules, interests and preferences scattered across KakaoTalk chats through long-term on-device AI memory, and on connecting external transaction functions such as food delivery.