Can AI be a public utility? World watches Korea's bold experiment

South Korea's “AI for All” initiative, which provides free, unlimited access to generative AI to all citizens, has been described by The Wall Street Journal and TechRadar as the first major state-led effort to treat AI as a public utility, akin to water and electricity. TechRadar noted that most governments still view AI as something to regulate or subsidize, while South Korea is treating it as basic national infrastructure, with industry experts like Luis Felipe Gutman echoing that view.

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. The publication said Korea is treating AI access less like a premium software subscription and more like “a basic piece of national infrastructure,” a view echoed by industry experts. “South Korea just made AI a public utility, like water and electricity,” Luis Felipe Gutman, managing