Yoo Young-sang, SKT CEO, "Announcement on AI Alliance Expansion at Next Year's MWC"

CEO Yoo Sang-young on the 4th: "Joint Venture Also Being Established"
"AIDC Regional Hub Establishment Still Uncertain"

Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom, stated, "At next year's Mobile World Congress (MWC), it seems we will be able to discuss the expansion of the Global Telco AI Alliance (GTAA), the establishment of a joint venture, and the appointment of its CEO." MWC is the world's largest mobile telecommunications exhibition.

Yu Young-sang, CEO of SKT, is answering questions from reporters at the 'SK AI Summit 2024' held at COEX in Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Hwang Seo-yul chestnut@

On the 4th, during the 'SK AI Summit 2024' held at COEX in Seoul, CEO Yoo responded to reporters' questions about the progress of GTAA. GTAA is an AI collaboration consortium formed by SKT together with global telecom companies such as Singtel, e&, Deutsche Telekom, and SoftBank.

CEO Yoo explained, "The creation of a joint venture is also included in GTAA." He added, "We are currently in the process of establishing the joint venture, but the CEO has not yet been decided."

He continued, "The expansion of GTAA is also part of the plan," adding, "Many companies have expressed interest in participating, but I think large companies like Deutsche Telekom, which has subsidiaries such as T-Mobile US, will likely participate first."

Regarding plans to install AI data centers (DC), he did not disclose specific details. Earlier that day at the event, CEO Yoo announced plans to build a mega-scale AIDC (AI Data Center) using over 100MW of power in domestic regional hubs and to expand its scale to the GW level in the long term, aiming to become an AI data center hub in the Asia-Pacific region.

CEO Yoo said, "Building AIDCs in regional hubs is a major master plan, and since it requires consultations with partners, regulations, and energy considerations, the timing is uncertain," but added, "However, I think such an era will come in about 2 to 3 years."

Regarding the AI revenue models he is anticipating, he cited two areas: AI search and business-to-business (B2B) services. CEO Yoo said, "AI search is an area where monetization is possible, but I think the service needs to improve compared to now."

He also said, "Regarding B2B, there is a lot of demand from enterprises and the public sector," adding, "It has not yet been implemented, so it is not monetized, but I believe monetization will be possible very quickly."

Concerning the US launch of the global AI agent (PAA), he said, "It is still at the closed beta stage," and added, "Launching in the US market is not easy, but I expect to make a visible decision by next year." He further noted, "A launch within this year is somewhat difficult."