SM Entertainment to use LG U+ AI technology for virtual idol naevis

SM Entertainment and LG U+ will team up to use the telecommunication company's generative AI program for the K-pop's company's soon-to-debut virtual singer nævis, or naevis, the two companies said on Sunday.

Virtual idol nævis, or naevis [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

SM Entertainment and LG U+ will team up to use the telecommunication company's generative AI program for the K-pop's company's soon-to-debut virtual singer nævis, or naevis, the two companies said on Sunday.

The two parties signed a business agreement on Thursday at the K-pop's company headquarters in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul, in a ceremony attended by SM Entertainment's co-CEO Tak Young-jun, chief creative officer Park Jun-young, LG U+'s executive vice president and head of the consumer company department Chung Sue-hyun, vice president and head of marketing Choung Hye-youn, director of the AI tech unit Han Young-sub and leader of the integrated brand marketing team Kim Hee-jin.

LG U+'s executive vice president and head of the consumer company department Chung Sue-hyun, left, and SM Entertainment's co-CEO Tak Young-jun pose for photo after signing a business agreement on Aug. 29 at the K-pop agency's headquarters in Seongsu-dong in eastern Seoul. [SM ENTERTAINMENT, LG U+]

LG U+ will help SM Entertainment create the promotional content for nævis using LG U+'s latest AI program ixi-GEN. Content will include the music video for nævis' new song, short-form videos, concept photos and merchandise.

nævis is set to make its debut on Sept. 10 as SM Entertainment's first official virtual artist. The singer's voice is AI-generated, with content to be generated in both 2-D and 3-D, according to the agency.

The telco's ixi-GEN rolled out its small large language model (sLLM) program ixi-GEN, in June and has been utilizing it in its marketing strategies ever since.

"The collaboration between SM Entertainment's virtual artist nævis and LG U+'s generative AI ixi-GEN goes beyond a simple business partnership but marks a major move in the two companies' goal toward technological innovation in content," SM Entertainment's co-CEO Tak said.

"We at LG U+ believe that digital innovation is providing our customers with new and fun experience," Chung said. "We will provide not just our customers but also K-pop fans through the collaboration with SM Entertainment and we are excited to create great synergy in marketing and branding as leading companies in AI."

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]