SEOUL, August 28 (AJP) - South Korea has selected SK Telecom, Kakao and KT to build AI services for the public under a government project aimed at widening access to artificial intelligence, the Ministry of Science said Friday.
The three consortiums were chosen from six applicants following written and presentation evaluations that assessed their AI model competitiveness, GPU and infrastructure plans, user convenience, service quality and safety, and contribution to Korea's AI ecosystem, the ministry said.
Evaluation scores and rankings were not disclosed at the companies' request.
The proposals centered on general-purpose AI chatbot services meant to compete with foreign AI services, along with public AI agents that help users find and apply for government benefits without navigating complex procedures, according to the ministry.
Each consortium also plans to expand its services through partnerships with domestic startups.
The ministry plans to sign agreements with the operators in September and launch the service nationwide by the end of the year after beta testing.
The government will provide the three operators with a combined 512 Nvidia B200 GPUs this year and fund the cost of running the service nationwide from 2027.
SK Telecom's consortium is building an "action-based" AI service that can plan, carry out and confirm tasks from a single request.
The service will work through phone calls and text messages as well as apps and the web, making it accessible to older users and others less familiar with smartphone apps.
It will also include an agent function that searches for contact information for stores or government offices without official APIs and places calls on the user's behalf.
Partners in the SKT consortium include Hana Card, Shinhan Card, Tmap Mobility and SK Broadband.
Kakao's consortium will use its messenger app as the main gateway to a combined chatbot and AI agent service.
It will roll out a lightweight version of a general-purpose AI calling service with LG Uplus by the end of the year before expanding it in stages.
The service will also connect to an AI agent marketplace where developers can build, test and distribute specialized agents.
Other partners include LG AI Research, LG CNS, LG Electronics, Seoul National University Hospital, Shinhan Bank and Kakao Enterprise.
KT's consortium is designing a service that lets users search, compare and act on information, including public and specialized services, within a single conversation.
AI access points will be built into the Daum portal and app, as well as partner platforms such as Danawa, Musinsa and Zigbang.
KT's telecom and IPTV channels will also be linked to the service.
The consortium includes Upstage, Rebellions, Saltlux, BC Card, EBS and NC AI, among other partners.
The ministry plans to form a working-level task force with the three operators and consult with other government agencies on linking public data to the services.
AJP Takeaways
· South Korea selected SK Telecom, Kakao and KT for a government-backed public AI service project.
· The project will offer general-purpose AI chatbots and public AI agents.
· The three operators will receive access to a combined 512 Nvidia B200 GPUs this year.
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