[CES 2024] Choi Tae-won: "AI Market Breakthrough Happening... SK Group Needs to Present Solutions at Group Level"

CES Opening Day, Choi Tae-won Visits Site
Q&A with Press After Touring Major Company Booths
Questions Showered on Samsung Executives at Samsung Booth

On the 9th (local time), SK Chairman Chey Tae-won is conducting a Q&A session at the 'SK ICT Family Demo Room' in the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), Nevada, USA. Photo by SK Group

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, emphasized the need for SK Group to present AI packages or solutions to customers on a group-wide scale.

Need for AI Packages and Solutions at SK Group Level

At a press conference held on the 9th (local time) at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) Central Hall in Nevada, USA, Chairman Choi said, "AI marks the beginning of a new era, and it is impossible to predict the extent of its impact and speed," adding, "After the release of ChatGPT, I did not think that 'AI would change the world,' but as a breakthrough occurred, everyone is trying to ride this wave." A breakthrough refers to solving and succeeding in technically difficult problems in projects such as computer system development.

When asked if there are plans to form an AI think tank or control tower at the group level, he replied, "The term 'control tower' is not appropriate, and each company will apply AI to their products," adding, "Currently, at the group level, we are nurturing engineers through the member competency enhancement platform 'Sunny (mySUNI)'." He continued, "Customers need to transact with SK Group collectively, so there is a necessity for SK to present an overall package or solution all at once."

Regarding the outlook for the group’s core businesses this year, energy and semiconductors, he said, "The semiconductor industry’s cycles are becoming shorter and the valleys deeper," adding, "Recovery is natural now, but how much growth will follow is still unknown." He also said, "The energy industry is the same," adding, "With geopolitical crises also hitting, predicting the future no longer holds much meaning, and moving more agilely is the only direction."

As CES 2024, the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition, opened on the 9th (local time), SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is listening to an explanation about the 'AI Fortune Teller' at the SK exhibition hall set up in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in Nevada, USA. Photo by SK Group

Chairman Choi said about SK’s key projects this year, "It seems fine-tuning is needed," adding, "There are parts where we need to change the functions we have always done and challenge new things."

Having attended the keynote speech by Siemens, which transformed into a digital twin company, a day before CES 2024 opened, Chairman Choi analyzed, "Now collaboration seems to be an important issue," adding, "It may not work well for me to create all solutions alone. The era is coming where solutions created jointly through partnering are sold together." Siemens is building partnerships with Sony and Amazon to implement an industrial metaverse.

Samsung Executives Sweat Under Choi Tae-won’s Barrage of Questions

On the official opening day of CES, Chairman Choi visited the SK Group joint exhibition hall 'SK Wonderland' set up at LVCC Central Hall, where he personally experienced the major business areas of each affiliate, such as hydrogen, AI, electric vehicle batteries, and urban air mobility (UAM), in a theme park format. Arriving at the exhibition hall around 9:40 a.m., Chairman Choi gazed at the large sphere 'Wonder Globe,' symbolizing the carbon-neutral world SK pursues, for a long time before examining SK Hynix’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) exhibits. Then, he took a photo in front of the AI-powered 'AI Fortune Teller,' picked a tarot card, and when the 'Emperor' card appeared, he smiled as if amused.

Moving to the Samsung Electronics booth, Chairman Choi toured the exhibition with Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee and President Lee Young-hee, reviewing the status of technologies, products, and solutions related to TVs and AI.

He then visited the booths of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, showing interest in technology trends. Especially at Samsung Electronics’ transparent micro LED corner, which attracted attention at this CES, he reportedly fired questions at the responsible executive such as, "Is it visible from the opposite side?", "Is it possible to install it on house windows?", and "When the power is off, does it turn black like a TV?"