KT joins hands with Canada’s Vector Institute for AI development

KT Corp. new CEO Kim Young-shub. [Photo by Yonhap]

KT Corp., South Korea’s leading telecommunications provider under a new leadership, will join hands with a Canadian artificial intelligence (AI) research institute to speed up its hyper-scale AI business.

KT said on Wednesday that the company discussed cooperation in the areas of hyper-scale AI with Toronto-based Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Seoul on Tuesday.

The Vector Institute is a renowned AI research institution, established in 2017 with funding from both the Ontario government and the private sector.

Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, a professor at the University of Toronto who is more commonly known as the “godfather of AI,” co-founded the institute and serves as the chief scientific advisor.

Bae Soon-min, head of KT’s AI2XL research center who is responsible for the company’s hyper-scale AI project, met with Tony Gaffney, chief executive officer of Vector Institute.

The two parties are collaborating on research related to the latest AI technologies, including prompt engineering, which creates commands to enable AI to produce optimal results.

The two are reportedly finding ways to use hyper-scale AI technologies that often accompany substantial costs, such as electricity and cloud usage fees, more efficiently. The results from the collaboration are likely to contribute to KT’s hyper-scale project that is scheduled to be unveiled by the end of this year.

Telecom companies eyeing AI for new business areas is an evident trend as the industry enters a period of stagnation. Finding new growth drivers is the top priority for telecom companies.

Korea’s top telecommunication network operator, SK telecom Co., has invested in the U.S. AI startup Anthropic PBC, and LG CNS Co., is focusing on multi-language models.

KT has been a relative latecomer in AI investment due to the long vacancy of leadership, but it is expected to speed up its steps in the field, raising anticipation of the company’s active investment in AI-driven business projects, such as AI-driven call center, logistics, robots, healthcare, and education, following the inauguration of the new CEO, Kim Young-shub, in August.

Kim initiated external activities by meeting with Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho on Tuesday. He reportedly discussed potential engagement by the company in the government cloud project, as well as telecom policies and other current issues.

Kim is scheduled to attend this year’s Mobile 360 Asia-Pacific conference, which will take place from Thursday in Seoul. He is anticipated to present a vision for the AI business as he delivers a speech about an open digital nation.