KT upgrades Korean LLM, eyes sovereign AI lead

KT researchers test Mi:dm 2.0 at the company's research center in Seoul. (KT Corp.)

Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp. on Thursday unveiled its upgraded large language model, Mi:dm 2.0, optimized for the Korean language, expressing its commitment to expanding the open-source artificial intelligence ecosystem and participating in the government’s sovereign AI initiative.

“KT seeks to embed four key principles across all domains of AI: data sovereignty, user choice, Korean values and responsible operations,” said Shin Dong-hoon, chief AI officer at KT, during an online press briefing. “Mi:dm 2.0 is the first model developed under our sovereign AI philosophy.”

The telecom company is positioning itself as a strong contender in the government's foundational AI model development project, which is recruiting domestic AI consortia until July 21. If selected, participants can label their model as a "K-AI model," and their company as a "K-AI enterprise."

"Because our AI philosophy aligns with the government's direction, we are preparing to participate in the sovereign AI foundation model project," Shin said. “Over the past year, in collaboration with data alliance, we have built a model that embodies Korean values and culture — a major advantage in establishing a uniquely Korean AI."

The Mi:dm 2.0 lineup comprises two models: the Mi:dm 2.0 base, featuring 11.5 billion parameters, and the lighter Mi:dm 2.0 mini, which has 2.3 billion parameters.

Both support Korean and English, reflecting KT’s ambition to lead with “Korean AI” — a concept that refers to AI developed from Korea’s ethos, knowledge and way of life.

As part of its two-track strategy, KT is also enhancing Mi:dm 2.0 while co-developing a Korean-specialized version of GPT-4 in partnership with US IT giant Microsoft.

“We have never believed in giving up on our technology,” said the CAIO. “Where we lack capabilities, we intend to collaborate with Microsoft to tune ChatGPT in a way that deeply understands Korean culture and values.”

The telecom giant first commercialized its large-scale AI model in 2022 and has since integrated it into services like its AI contact center. The company said the upgraded LLM outperforms leading domestic and global models in understanding and generating Korean-language content, especially in culturally nuanced or professional domains.

“Our goal is to infuse the Korean spirit into every layer of our AI model lineup,” said Oh Seung-phil, chief technology officer. “That is our mission and our philosophy.”