public sector<\/p>\n
Tender calls for providers to power free service with local LLMs, government to supply some GPUs<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s government has posted a tender seeking suppliers to build a universal basic AI chatbot, and an AI agent for government services.<\/p>\n
The \u201cAI for everyone\u201d plan calls for private entities to create and operate the AI systems under contracts that expire in the year 2031. Bid documents<\/a> reveal that Seoul will provide up to 256 Nvidia B200 GPUs to successful bidders. Winners must match government funding.<\/p>\n The aim of the policy is to ensure that every resident of South Korea can access a free-to-use quality AI chatbot, a tool Seoul has decided no local should be without. The tender also calls for creation of an agentic system that allows citizens to interact with government services.<\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s government wants to ensure that residents can always access a locally hosted and operated service, to reduce reliance on overseas providers and ensure that AI services reflect local culture.<\/p>\n Successful bidders must therefore use locally developed AI models as the foundation for the services.<\/p>\n Bidders have until August 11th to file their proposals. South Korean media reports<\/a> suggest local tech giants Kakao, Naver, SK Telecom, and LG are all keen to participate.<\/p>\n The tender landed just weeks after the US government compelled Anthropic to prohibit all foreign nationals from accessing its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models. Because Anthropic has no idea which passports its US-based users hold, it was unable to comply and therefore took both models online.<\/p>\n