Deputy Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon emphasized that the government's "Everyone's AI" project will struggle to succeed unless it clearly differentiates itself from foreign artificial intelligence (AI) services. He stressed that by the official launch in December, citizens must be able to experience something distinctly different from existing AI.
Speaking at a business operator meeting for the "Everyone's AI" project held on the 4th at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, Deputy Prime Minister Bae stated, "We are already using many foreign AI services. If we fail to create clear differentiation compared to foreign AI services, I believe Everyone's AI will fail."
The "Everyone's AI" project is a government initiative designed to enable all citizens to access domestic AI services without cost or usage burdens. On the 28th of last month, three consortia led by SK Telecom, KT, and Kakao were selected as final operators. The government plans to support 512 GPUs this year and will invest 250 billion won next year.
Deputy Prime Minister Bae identified Everyone's AI as one of the most challenging projects among the government's AI policies for this year. He remarked, "Among various sub-tasks, Everyone's AI is arguably the most challenging. We have deeply considered whether we can truly achieve it." He added, "I believe success will not be easy unless we create new value by developing AI services and business models that do not currently exist."
Ultimately, the hurdle for Everyone's AI is not merely its name as "domestic AI," but rather the actual choices of users. With foreign generative AIs such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude already rapidly embedding themselves into the daily lives and work routines of domestic users, attracting users solely based on their domestic origin will be difficult. This explains why the government is highlighting differentiators such as AI agents capable of handling not only general chatbot functions but also public service applications and processing.
Deputy Prime Minister Bae also identified user experience at the initial launch as a key variable determining success. He stated, "If there is little difference compared to existing services offered by each telecommunications company and platform when first launched, citizens may be disappointed with their first experience." He urged, "Please unite your efforts so that when we officially launch in December after the beta service phase, we can deliver a service that makes citizens say 'Wow'."
Deputy Prime Minister Bae added, "There may be various challenges and small failures," but emphasized, "We must definitely create an Everyone's AI that succeeds through multiple failures and challenges."
in TECH
