[AI Revolution](20) KT Accelerates Growth with Super Large AI and AI Full Stack

Development of Supermassive AI 'Mideum'
Efficiency 3x↑ Full-stack AI Semiconductor to be Completed Within the Year

The global artificial intelligence (AI) craze is sweeping the world with ChatGPT. AI is the core pillar of KT's corporate value growth. The company aims to transform from a telecommunications company (Telco) into a digital platform company (Digico) by leveraging AI.

Last November, KT presented three major development strategies to secure AI competitiveness: ▲ commercialization of super-large AI ▲ innovation of AI infrastructure ▲ cultivation of future AI talent. Since the emergence of ChatGPT, AI utilization has increased across various industries, but existing AI has shown limitations in terms of performance, scalability, and cost. This is why there is a focus on the need for super-large AI capable of implementing customized and creative learning and functions. KT has consolidated its AI capabilities to develop the super-large AI called 'MIDEUM.'

KT is applying digital logistics to the distribution industry using the KT AI Transportation Platform to improve service efficiency.
[Photo by KT]

MIDEUM aims to be an AI that understands emotions and empathizes with humans. Through learning, it can interpret user intentions and change its tone or voice according to the situation. It also remembers and utilizes previous conversations. KT is developing AI specialized counseling and AI emotional care services by leveraging MIDEUM's characteristics.

AI specialized counseling is a service where AI learns vast knowledge in specialized fields and provides professional counseling using embodied AI and personalized TTS (Text to Speech) technology. KT has created an AI version of Dr. Oh Eun-young, a pediatric psychiatrist, and is considering launching a service that allows families to consult with AI Dr. Oh Eun-young about childcare at home.

For AI emotional care functions, KT is developing services for seniors. The AI remembers past conversations with senior customers and recognizes their situations, such as favorite places or hobbies, to engage in conversations. It can summarize conversations and deliver them to caregivers or relevant institutions. KT plans to lead digital transformation across various industries by integrating super-large AI not only in counseling but also in logistics, healthcare, and AI-based call centers.

KT AI Human [Photo by KT]

To support super-large AI, KT is also innovating AI infrastructure. As AI is utilized across industries, the AI semiconductor market is expanding explosively. Global market research firm Gartner forecasts the AI semiconductor market to grow to $70 billion (approximately 92 trillion KRW) by 2025.

Developing and utilizing AI requires enormous costs and power. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, which launched ChatGPT, said on Twitter, "The cost of running ChatGPT is painfully expensive." Bloomberg reported that training a single AI model requires more electricity than 100 U.S. households consume. This underscores the need for low-cost, high-efficiency AI infrastructure.

To secure growth momentum, KT has early investments in startups such as Rebellion (AI semiconductor design) and More (AI infrastructure solutions) and has built an AI alliance. It has also formed an industry-academia-research consortium AI One Team with KAIST, Hanyang University, and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) to research AI algorithms. KT plans to complete a Korean-style AI semiconductor full stack (providing the entire process from AI infrastructure to application services) within the year, achieving more than three times the efficiency of existing solutions. They plan to introduce services with excellent power efficiency by applying the Atom chip developed by Rebellion. At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 held last February, KT showcased the AI full stack globally together with Rebellion and More.

KT is also focusing on talent development to revitalize the AI ecosystem. Through the recruitment-linked education program 'AIVLE School,' it plans to nurture 5,000 digital talents over five years. KT has developed Korea's first AI practical skills certification exam, 'AICE,' to strengthen AI capabilities across society.