Sovereign Intelligence: South Korea Launches National AI for All Program to Reduce US Reliance

States no longer want to depend on Silicon Valley servers. On August 29, 2026, the South Korean government officially launched the national `AI for All` program, designed to provide all citizens with access to homegrown AI services.

Seoul authorities view AI not as a private commercial product, but as basic national infrastructure (analogous to water or electricity). The project operators selected are consortia of national telecom giants: SK Telecom, KT, and an alliance of Kakao with LG Uplus. The initial phase deploys a cluster of 512 cutting-edge NVIDIA B200 accelerators. The primary macroeconomic objective is to foster the development of local foundation models and shield the national economy from the technological hegemony of the US and China by building a fully independent sovereign digital perimeter.

Source: Digital Today / WSJ