New 'Future Fund' from Güney Kore: National Artificial Intelligence for Everyone is Coming

The Güney Kore government plans to establish a new 'Future Readiness Fund' to utilize the additional tax revenues generated from the revenue boom in the semiconductor sector. One of the most notable project areas for this fund is expected to be the 'Artificial Intelligence for All' (AI for All) initiative, which is the government's priority artificial intelligence infrastructure policy. This initiative is an ambitious state project aimed at enabling every citizen to use artificial intelligence as easily and competently as they use their native language, Korece. This step reveals the state's intention to significantly increase its financial investment in technological transformation. Officials state that this fund is seen as a critical tool for spreading artificial intelligence technologies to all segments of society and maximizing ease of use.

The artificial intelligence project in question is basically designed in a chatbot format that will provide citizens with a 'national personal assistant' service. This system, which closely resembles OpenAI's globally popular ChatGPT, will be built on the 'independent artificial intelligence foundation model' that the government is currently developing. While old-generation chatbots were limited to providing instant answers to simple questions asked by users, this new system will have the capacity to undertake much more advanced tasks. It is aimed that citizens will be able to directly use this artificial intelligence tool when filling out complex administrative and bureaucratic documents or conducting official correspondence. The government has prioritized ensuring that the entire society benefits from this digital assistant seamlessly in order to create technological equality of opportunity.

Behind the government's decision to support this comprehensive artificial intelligence project by directly transferring funds from the Future Readiness Fund lies an important social data. The comprehensive report announced in Nisan by the Bilgi ve İletişim Politikaları Araştırma Enstitüsü (KISDI) strikingly revealed the intergenerational technology usage divide. According to the research in question, as of 2025, the awareness rate of the Güney Kore public regarding generative artificial intelligence technology has been around 50 percent, but the rate of actively using the technology has remained at only 31 percent. Looking at age groups, the picture is even bleaker; especially the usage rate of this technology by those aged 60 and over falls below 6 percent. The artificial intelligence usage rate of citizens aged seventy and over remains at a very low level of only seven per thousand.

In light of this striking demographic data, the Bilim ve İletişim Teknolojileri Bakanlığı has decided to create a comprehensive digital inclusion strategy. The ministry will develop specially adapted artificial intelligence models and services targeted at the elderly population and other disadvantaged groups who have difficulty using the technology on their own. These special models, which offer accessibility solutions such as more understandable interfaces and voice commands for the elderly, are planned to play a key role in closing the digital divide. The main 'Artificial Intelligence for All' services, which will appeal to the general public, are expected to begin testing in the last months of this year and be implemented gradually. The government has set its official goal to offer this service completely free of charge to all citizens by the end of 2028, following the full establishment and socialization of the project.

On the other hand, the Güney Kore administration is working intensively to solidify the legal ground for the financial resource that will realize this technological vision. The process of preparing a special bill titled 'Law on the Establishment and Operation of the Future Readiness Fund' is ongoing, and it is aimed to clarify the usage areas of the fund by making changes in the current national finance laws. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Gu Yoon-chol, in a statement he made on a radio program regarding the issue, emphasized that the relevant bill should be discussed rapidly before the regular parliamentary session in Eylül. The minister stated that they expect the legal framework of the fund to be clarified by Ağustos at the latest, during the period when next year's budget bill is announced, in order to accelerate the legislative process. These steps demonstrate Güney Kore's effort to become a determined global example, not only in technology production but also in spreading these technologies to all segments of society through state financing.