Leading AI Innovation Focused on 5 Key Areas
A.Dot's Global Expansion... Establishing the 'K-AI Alliance'
"Fairness in Network Usage Fees... Efforts to Revise Pricing Plans"
[Barcelona=Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom, who declared a leap from a telecommunications company to an AI company, announced that artificial intelligence (AI) will be introduced into all services. He will lead an AI transformation centered on five major areas and establish the 'K-AI Alliance' to engage in comprehensive AI cooperation.
On the 26th (local time), Yoo Young-sang revealed the vision of 'AI to Everywhere' at a press conference held in Barcelona, Spain, where Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 is taking place. Using SKT's AI services and technologies, he intends to lead innovation focusing on five major areas: ▲Customer & Technology ▲Spatiotemporal ▲Industry (AIX) ▲Core BM (Core Business Model) ▲ESG (Environment, Social, Governance).
Yu Young-sang, CEO of SKT, is holding a press conference on the 26th (local time) in Barcelona, Spain. [Photo by SKT]
Advancing AI 'Aidot' and Global Expansion... Expanding Customer Spatiotemporal Experience through UAM and Metaverse
Yoo identified 'Aidot' as the core service in the customer and technology domain. SKT launched the beta service of 'Aidot,' an AI agent equipped with a Korean large language model, in May last year and secured 1 million subscribers within nine months. Amid global attention on ChatGPT recently, Yoo pointed out that the difference between Aidot and ChatGPT lies in emotional conversations and goal-oriented dialogues beyond information provision (knowledge conversations). He said, "In addition to knowledge conversations, when emotional conversations occur, customers provide genuine data to AI," adding, "Goal-oriented conversations that can be executed upon service requests are also necessary." Starting next month, Aidot's service will be revamped to add advanced dialogue, multi-character, and customized content features. Taking advantage of MWC, SKT will actively promote Aidot's overseas expansion. They will build a 'Telco Alliance' with global telecom companies to create a joint platform and provide locally specialized services.
By expanding customer spatiotemporal experiences through autonomous driving and robots, SKT aims to transform from a mobile operator to a mobility operator. Regarding UAM, Yoo stated, "SKT UAM possesses overwhelming technological capabilities compared to competitors in aircraft, airspace network, flight and control, and site analysis," and added, "Joby Aviation is expected to receive the world's first Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification around next year."
Autonomous driving will enter the AI solution domain. SKT's AI semiconductor subsidiary Sapeon will launch the X340 chipset in 2024, combined with software from Silicon Valley startup PhantomAI. Leveraging the commercialization experience of SKT's 'NUGU Auto,' installed in Volvo vehicles, they will introduce an autonomous driving solution package. In the robotics field, various commercialization cases such as logistics and barista robots are being developed.
The metaverse 'Ifland' expands real spaces into virtual worlds. Ifland records 4 million monthly active users (MAU) and 2,500 cumulative partnerships, expanding into 49 countries. About 10% of MAU comes from overseas. Yoo said, "We will make Ifland the 'Cyworld' of the metaverse era," and added, "We plan to open social metaverse services in the global market as early as April." At MWC, SKT signed metaverse business agreements with Germany's Deutsche Telekom, North America's T-Mobile, Asia's Axiata, and CelcomDigi to expand the market.
On the 26th (local time), Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SKT, held a press conference in Barcelona, Spain, announcing the establishment of the 'K-AI Alliance,' stating that they will form alliances with AI tech companies possessing the best technology and compete on the global stage. [Photo by SKT]
Establishing 'K-AI Alliance'... Strengthening Competitiveness in Telecommunications, Media, and Subscriptions through AI
In the AIX sector, SKT is building the 'K-AI Alliance' to lead innovation across various industries. In the infrastructure and hardware domain, they have entered the AI semiconductor market with Sapeon. The upcoming X330, set for release in the second half of the year, boasts four times the performance of the existing X220. Collaborations are ongoing with PhantomAI for autonomous driving and with Conan Technology for deep learning models. Cooperation is also being strengthened with advertising solution tech company Moloco and global business solution company Suite. Vision AI is pursuing global expansion through partnerships with top global cloud service providers (CSPs). AI camera applications such as the AI veterinary diagnostic solution X Caliber are achieving results in dispatch control and industrial safety management.
Regarding AI company investment performance, Yoo stated, "Bespin Global, invested in three years ago, is about to become a unicorn. Sapeon spun off last year, attracting 80 billion KRW investment from SKT, SK Square, and SK Hynix, and this year received investment valuing it at 500 billion KRW." He added, "Moloco was invested in early on and has long surpassed unicorn status. Conan Technology grew eightfold in just three months." Yoo expressed willingness to collaborate with competitors to enhance AI capabilities. "There are fewer than ten companies in Korea that are somewhat proficient in AI. I believe we must cooperate with these companies in some form," he said.
In the Core BM area, AI will be introduced into key businesses such as telecommunications, media, and subscriptions to enhance competitiveness. Beyond existing digital innovations like hyper-personalized services, completely new services will be launched. T-Wooju exceeded 600 billion KRW in gross merchandise volume (GMV) last year and aims for 1 trillion KRW this year. It is expected to evolve into an AI-based open subscription platform.
SKT is also advancing ESG through AI technology. SKT's 'AI Care and Care Call' has provided emergency rescue to 400 people in 50,000 households and blocked over 4 million smishing attempts last year. They are also cooperating with AI ESG startups such as Tuat.
Since his appointment, Yoo has declared the transition to an 'AI company' and is seeking future competitiveness through AI. He said, "From a service perspective, telecom companies have weak customer touchpoints. AI services can bypass legacy services and directly contact customers," adding, "Ultimately, applying AI increases productivity and customer value. We will apply AI to all existing services."
"Network Usage Fees Should Be Fair... Efforts to Revise Pricing Plans"
Yoo also shared his views on network usage fees, a major topic at this MWC. He said, "It should be viewed from the perspective of fairness," and added, "If we approach how to share roles between content providers (CP) and internet service providers (ISP) not by power but by fairness logic, we can find an answer." Yoo also serves as the head of SK Broadband, which is currently in litigation with Netflix over network usage fees.
Regarding the government's criticism of the telecommunications oligopoly by the three major companies and efforts to reduce household communication costs, he said, "We will comply with government policies as much as possible," and added, "We will make efforts to revise senior plans and mid-tier 5G plans in consultation with the government as soon as possible."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
