SK Telecom announced its comprehensive strategy today to transform into a global AI powerhouse by bolstering its AI capabilities and forming strategic alliances with international partners.
SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang revealed the ambitious ‘AI Pyramid Strategy,’ emphasizing innovation across industry, society, and daily life through AI Infrastructure, AI Transformation (AIX), and AI Service.
Under the strategic blueprint, the company envisages a tripling of AI-related investments, from 12 percent over the past five years (2019-2023) to an anticipated 33 percent over the next five years (2024-2028).
AI Infrastructure
At the base of the AI Pyramid, SKT plans to concentrate its technological prowess in AI Infrastructure, encompassing AI data centers, AI semiconductors, and multi LLM. With a growing AI market and a surging demand for data centers, SKT aims to introduce energy-efficient solutions such as immersion cooling systems and hydrogen fuel cells. These will be bundled with Sapeon’s neural processing unit (NPU) and SK Hynix’s high bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI hosting business, promising higher margins.
Sapeon, SKT’s AI semiconductor arm, is set to launch the next-generation inference AI chip ‘X330’ with superior computational performance and power efficiency. This initiative is part of SKT’s strategy to expand its data center business on a global scale, nearly doubling its data center capacity by 2030.
AI Transformation (AIX)
In the middle layer of the AI Pyramid, AIX entails an innovative approach to SKT’s existing core businesses like mobile, broadband, and enterprise by integrating AI. The company aims to reduce costs and enhance customer experiences in the mobile business by incorporating AI in customer acquisition and support, as well as network infrastructure deployment and operation.
Moreover, SKT plans to extend AI capabilities in various sectors, including healthcare, media, and advertising technology. The integration of multi LLM with existing AI solutions will enable an expansion of AI Contact Centers to financial institutions and data platform businesses.
AI Service
SKT officially launched ‘A.’, the world’s first Korean LLM service, aiming to evolve it into a personal AI assistant. The company is also developing an AI phone service to enhance user experiences and provide AI-driven recommendations based on call context, history, and content analysis.
Additionally, SKT introduced ‘A. sleep,’ an AI-powered sleep management solution, and an AI music service that enhances playlist curation based on user preferences and generative models.
Two-Track Approach for Global Expansion
SKT is employing a dual approach, strengthening its in-house capabilities in AI while fostering partnerships with global players like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Konan Technology. This strategy is aimed at positioning SKT as a global AI leader, benefiting industries and societies with innovative AI technologies and services.
CEO Ryu Young-sang emphasized, “With our AI Pyramid Strategy, we will make accelerated moves to strengthen our own capabilities and cooperate with diverse partners, and expand our AI-related resource investments. Through these efforts, we aim to become a global AI company that benefits customers, increases industry productivity, and solves social problems with innovative technologies and services.”
SK Telecom’s determination to innovate and integrate AI across multiple sectors showcases its commitment to a future driven by artificial intelligence, redefining industry norms and societal experiences.
