Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said the outlook for next year's "Youth AI Growth Voucher" program — which would give young residents free access to paid generative artificial intelligence services from global technology companies — has become uncertain after the city council struck the budget from a supplementary spending plan.
Oh made the remarks on the 15th at a parliamentary audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government held by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee at Seoul City Hall. Asked by Rep. Jin Jong-oh of the People Power Party about next year's plans for the program, Oh said the situation was "very difficult, because this budget cut could make negotiations harder next year and beyond."
The Youth AI Growth Voucher was a central pledge of Oh's campaign in the June 3 local elections. Under the program, the city would contract for paid generative AI services from global companies at a discounted price and provide them to young residents at no cost. The city allocated 5.625 billion won (about $3.9 million) for the program in its second supplementary budget this year, but the entire amount was cut during review by the Seoul Metropolitan Council. The move followed criticism, led by the Democratic Party of Korea, that the city had not done enough preparatory work, including establishing the basis for determining who would be eligible.
"We had succeeded in negotiating dramatically discounted prices with the companies that provide ChatGPT and Gemini, and it is truly regrettable that the opportunity has been lost," Oh said.
He stressed that the budget cut had damaged the city's relationship of trust with the companies. "Of course, if this year's supplementary budget had passed, we planned to run a pilot program at the end of the year and then include it in next year's main budget," Oh said. "To the two companies that expected a contract to be signed, Seoul is no longer a party they can trust."
"The dramatically low price terms we originally pursued are no longer valid," he added. "We recently received word from both companies that negotiations next year will also be difficult. This budget cut could make negotiations hard for next year and beyond, which puts us in a very difficult position."
Oh again expressed concern about an ordinance passed by the city council supporting the city's public job program for people with severe disabilities, known as "rights-based public jobs". "Seoul has a principle that jobs funding must not go toward protests or sit-ins that obstruct citizens' commutes in any form," he said. "Our position is that we can allocate a budget if it helps create jobs for people with disabilities."