South Korea’s Ambitious Bet: National AI for All Its Citizens

South Korea is preparing a remarkably ambitious project: a free generative artificial-intelligence service for every citizen by the end of the year. Seoul says the service will be built on sovereign models, including models created by South Korean companies.

The plan puts national control at the heart of the AI debate. Rather than simply opening access to a foreign platform, South Korea wants to develop an offering rooted in its own technological capabilities and make it available across the population.

The contrast with Malta is striking. This spring, Malta signed an agreement with OpenAI under which the California-based company will give every citizen free access to the version of ChatGPT that normally requires payment.

That arrangement may give OpenAI considerable influence over the island at little cost, while creating what the article describes as an extremely strong relationship of dependence on the U.S. multinational. South Korea’s approach is therefore one to watch closely, not only for the service itself, but for the question of who controls the infrastructure and models behind public access to AI.