Korea’s plan to give everyone free, unlimited access to AI is being watched abroad as a bold experiment in treating AI as public infrastructure. Foreign media and experts have framed the AI for All initiative as a public utility, while the government says it is meant to expand basic access and reduce new economic and social divides. Beta testing is set to begin next month, with a full launch in December.
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SEATTLE — Korea's plan to give everyone free, unlimited access to artificial intelligence (AI) initially landed at home as another government technology initiative. But over the past week, foreign media and commentators have cast it in far more consequential terms: a bold experiment in treating AI as public infrastructure.
The Wall Street Journal described Korea's “AI for All” initiative as the first major state-led effort to treat generative AI as a public utility, while TechRadar, a global technology news and review publication, said other governments would be watching the experiment closely.
“Most governments still talk about artificial intelligence as something to regulate or subsidize. South Korea is trying something considerably bolder,” TechRadar said in an opinion piece this week.
