SK Telecom invests in chatbot start-up Scatter Lab

With the establishment of the strategic partnership, the companies will jointly develop a conversational artificial intelligence (AI) service designed for empathetic conversations.

Lee Lu-da, the college student chatbot developed by Scatter Lab [SCATTER LAB]

SK Telecom made a 15-billion-won ($11.2-million) equity investment in Scatter Lab, a start-up known for its Lee Lu-da chatbot, the telecom company said Monday.

With the establishment of the strategic partnership, the companies will jointly develop a conversational artificial intelligence (AI) service designed for empathetic conversations.

SK Telecom is currently running an AI-powered digital secretary service named A., or A dot, which was introduced last year.

Scatter Lab developed the Lee Lu-da chatbot, designed to hold human-like conversations with users.

The Lee Lu-da chatbot was once embroiled in controversy over offensive comments after its initial release in 2020.

Scatter Lab introduced a renewed version of the service, Lee Lu-da 2.0, in Oct. 2022, switching to a generative language model from the previous retrieval model.

SK Telecom aims to introduce a new AI service specializing in holding human-like, emotional conversations under its A. brand in collaboration with Scatter Lab.

The companies will also jointly develop a large language model using SK Telecom’s multi-modal AI technology and previous experiences in operating A. service, as well as Scatter Lab’s technological capabilities in affective computing.

Scatter Lab will join the K-AI Alliance led by SK Telecom.

Founded during the MWC 2023 held in February, the K-AI Alliance aims to bolster Korea's AI capabilities. The alliance involves local AI companies such as Sapeon, Phantom AI, Bespin Global, Moloco, Konan Technology, Swit and Tuat.

“We are pleased to work with Scatter Lab, which has a strong capability in AI chatbot services specializing in empathetic conversations,” said Kim Yong-hoon, head of SK Telecom’s A. business. "SK Telecom will continue to contribute to fostering Korea's AI ecosystem and strengthening its global competitiveness through the K-AI Alliance."

“Through cooperation with SK Telecom, we will focus on further advancing our technological capabilities by large-scale machine learning and more,” said Kim Jong-youn, Scatter Lab CEO.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]