South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said on Sunday it will recruit an operator through Aug. 11 for its 'AI for All' project to provide a free AI chatbot to all citizens based on domestic AI models.

The selected company must launch a general-purpose AI chatbot within this year that all citizens can use without cost or usage limits. It will also provide a public AI agent that finds needed public services, informs users and helps them apply, as well as company-specific specialised services.

The operator must use domestic AI models that meet its proprietary foundation model standards for more than 50 percent of the service. It must also use domestic AI models from other companies for more than 30 percent.

Foreign AI models can be used only on a limited basis for the minimum functions required. The costs will be excluded from government support.

The government will allocate up to 512 Nvidia B200 graphics processing units (GPUs) it holds this year to the selected company.

If 2 companies are selected, each will receive 256 B200 GPUs. If 3 are selected, the top-ranked company will receive 256 and the second- and third-ranked companies will receive 128 each.

The selected company must pay its own share of costs commensurate with the government support. The support period runs through the end of 2030. Support methods and scale from 2027 will be decided after consultations with relevant ministries and the National Assembly and annual evaluations.

The ministry plans to select an operator next month after written and presentation evaluations. The written evaluation will review AI models and service competitiveness, GPU utilisation and infrastructure operation plans, and service development plans.

In the presentation evaluation, the ministry will assign the highest 50 points to service convenience and strategies to attract and retain users. Service quality and stability will be worth 30 points, and contributions to the domestic AI ecosystem 20 points. Up to 3 additional points will be awarded depending on the company's own cost-sharing amount.

The selected company must start a beta service by the end of September and launch the full service in December. From 2027, it will advance the AI agent beyond schedule recommendations to perform reservations and payments.

The ministry set a long-term goal of creating an environment in which each citizen can use one AI agent.

It also directed companies to establish their own revenue models by using user prompt data secured during the service process.

The number of domestic generative AI users last year was estimated at about 23,000,000. About one-third of the population is still not using AI services. Many users are also using free versions of foreign AI services, the ministry explained.

Bae Kyung-hoon (배경훈), deputy prime minister and science minister, said, "AI for All is a calculator and a computer for the AI era that supports people to work, learn and go about their daily lives together with AI." He added, "I ask for your interest and support so that not only companies and the government but also citizens can actively use our AI and develop it together."