SK telecom to offer communication-focused AI services

SK telecom President and Chief Executive Officer Ryu Young-sang [Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK telecom Co. plans to introduce a large language model (LLM)-based artificial intelligence (AI) service that specializes in communication as it strives to become a differentiated, global AI company amid intensifying industry competition.

Under its strategies that were unveiled on Tuesday, the mobile company plans to provide a differentiated, communication-focused AI service, such as one that offers a two-way, simultaneous interpretation for the Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese languages.

“ChatGPT’s debut in November 2022 triggered a massive AI revolution and the majority of big tech companies, excluding Apple, are jumping onto the AI bandwagon,” SK telecom President and Chief Executive Officer Ryu Young-sang said. “Regarding large language models (LLMs), three big groups have currently been formed – Google-Microsoft, OpenAI-Amazon, and Anthropic.”

Ryu’s made his remarks at an event held in Seoul to share SK telecom’s vision to become a global AI company.

SK telecom plans to release AI services based on communication, instead of directly competing with the big tech players, he said.

While other companies are focusing on creating services related to LLMs, SK telecom, which comparatively lacks the funds and workforce to do so, plans to offer communication-focused AI services that leverage telecom companies’ advantages.

Services include a two-way simultaneous interpretation in Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese, and features such as automatically registering agreed-upon schedules during calls and summarizing key call content. SK telecom’s massive AI service, A dot, will provide the services.

The company also plans to provide AI sleep management services starting this month. The service features a wake-up call during the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stage, which is the best time to wake up.

“Using communication-focused LLM-based Ai services, our ultimate goal is to launch an AI personal assistant service,” Ryu said. “People will subscribe to two to three AI personal assistants, similar to subscribing to online video streaming services.”

SK telecom’s focus on AI personal assistant services is due to the shift in the information technology (IT) industry ecosystem from telecom companies to big tech companies such as Google, Naver, and Netflix since the 2010s.

SK telecom believes that if it can ride the wave of the recent ChatGPT-driven AI revolution and provide services that consumers resonate with, it can regain leadership in the IT industry.

To achieve this, SK telecom is collaborating with foreign telecom companies, including those in Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore, to form a united front.

The company also plans to develop backend technical elements for B2C services such as A dot before divesting them. AI infrastructure, such as AI chips, AI data centers, and LLM technology enhancement, AIX, such as AI transformation, AI integration into existing businesses and UAM are part of these efforts and SK telecom has named its LLM model for AI infrastructure A.X LLM.

With its AI strategy in place, SK telecom aims to raise 25 trillion won ($18.5 billion) in sales in 2028, up from 17 trillion won in 2022.

It plans to quadruple the share of AI business revenue to 36 percent in 2028 from 9 percent in 2022. The company also plans to triple the share of AI investment, with SK telecom’s entire investment exceeding 4 trillion won last year.