South Korea plans to become the first country in the world to provide AI to all citizens free of charge
Kyiv • UNN
The AI for All program is intended to provide citizens with free access to the premium features of local chatbots. Seoul seeks to reduce its dependence on the United States and China.
South Korea plans to provide the entire population with free access to generative artificial intelligence, effectively making such technologies universally available digital services. The government wants to promote its own AI models and reduce the country's dependence on American and Chinese developments, The Wall Street Journal reports, according to UNN.
Details
As part of the "AI for All" initiative, citizens are to receive free access to the premium features of South Korean chatbots. The state will cover the costs of their use.
According to estimates by South Korean officials, more than 20 million residents of the country currently use free versions of generative AI. The new program is intended to significantly expand the use of national platforms specifically.
Seoul is betting on "sovereign AI"
The initiative is part of South Korea's strategy to create its own artificial intelligence ecosystem. Seoul wants critical AI services not to depend exclusively on the technologies of foreign companies.
According to the WSJ, users are to be offered an unlimited number of tokens, allowing them to actively work with local models without having to pay for premium subscriptions themselves.
Thus, South Korea could become the first major power to provide its population with premium generative AI nationwide as a digital service accessible to everyone.