SK hints at 'Korean Avengers' in AI with Naver, Samsung in annual group forum

At SK's annual Icheon Forum, the AI transition was at the center of discussions among the group's executives and affiliate chiefs.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, second from right, participates in the eighth edition of SK's Icheon Forum at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul in eastern Seoul on Monday. [SK GROUP]

SK hinted at joining forces with Naver and Samsung Electronics to form a "Korean Avengers" in the AI realm to expand in the global market.

"With Samsung Electronics and Naver, a 'Korean Avengers' team can make advancements [in the global AI market]," SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang reportedly said during the 2024 Icheon Forum, an annual SK Group-wide forum bringing together top executive from affiliates to discuss new business opportunities and risks.

The theme this year centered on the AI transition.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK Supex Council Chairman Chey Chang-won, SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung were among the forum's participants.

Ryu said SK Group's strength in AI lies in SK hynix's high bandwidth memory (HBM), SK Innovation's energy solutions and SK Telecom's AI alliance with global telecom companies.

Naver is currently a leader in large language models in Korea with the launch of HyperCLOVA X. Samsung Electronics threw the gauntlet down in designing an AI accelerator dubbed the Mach-1 while also remaining one of leading producers of AI memory chips.

SK hynix's head of HBM business, Ryu Sung-soo, said there have been requests by the "Magnificient 7" companies — a group of high-performing tech firms listed on the U.S. stock market including Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Tesla.

"All seven requested customized HBM chips," Ryu said during the forum. "Making an HBM that improves performance and electricity consumption 20 to 30 times over should be one of the targets."

SK's Icheon Forum is one of three flagship annual meetings at SK Group, along with the management strategy meeting and the CEO seminar.

The Icheon Forum was conceived in 2017 on SK Chairman Chey's suggestion to hold discussions to form insights into the future of business.

This year, the executives are poised to talk about generating value amid an expansion of AI ecosystems, changes to expedite the AI-based digital transition and innovations in how people work in the face of the AI era.

Jürgen Schmidhuber, professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, was invited to give the opening speech. Zack Kass, former head of OpenAI's go-to-market strategy took the stage in the second session.

The forum will run through Wednesday.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]