SK Telecom Launches ChatGPT Plus Promotion with OpenAI

ChatGPT Plus "1+2 Months" Promotion
Available to SK Telecom Customers from September 19
Expanding the AI Ecosystem through the "Self-Reliance and Cooperation" Strategy

SK Telecom announced on September 16 that it will join forces with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, to collaborate on customer-focused promotional activities.

As the first step in their partnership, the two companies will launch a "ChatGPT Plus" promotion from September 19 until February next year. New SK Telecom subscribers or customers who have not used the service for more than three months will be able to access a paid subscription for up to three months at the price of a one-month fee. SK Telecom customers can receive coupons through "T Universe" to enjoy these benefits.

ChatGPT Plus offers faster response speeds compared to the free version, priority access to new features, and expanded capabilities such as voice mode, video generation, and in-depth research. In particular, "in-depth research" utilizes multi-step reasoning to aggregate online information, making it useful for both everyday and professional tasks such as recommending commuter bicycles or generating market and product competitiveness analysis reports.

This collaboration is part of SK Telecom's AI strategy, which focuses on "self-reliance and cooperation." In addition to partnerships with global big tech companies such as AWS, Anthropic, and Perplexity, SK Telecom is also leading the "K-AI Alliance," a coalition of South Korean AI innovation companies, in collaboration with domestic AI firms.

Investment results are also drawing attention. Anthropic, which jointly developed a large language model specialized for telecommunications with SK Telecom, saw its corporate value increase more than tenfold after investment, while AI search engine Perplexity experienced a more than sixfold rise. SK Telecom is building a strategic partnership network that goes beyond simple investment, strengthening its global AI competitiveness.

Furthermore, the SK Telecom consortium was selected in August for the "Independent AI Foundation Model" project led by the Ministry of Science and ICT, and has begun developing its own model. The company is also working to enhance national AI infrastructure through high-performance GPU clusters such as "Haein" and a dedicated AI data center in Ulsan.

Lee Jaeshin, Head of AI Growth Strategy at SK Telecom, said, "We are pleased to showcase marketing synergy based on the trust we have built with OpenAI, a global AI leader. We will strengthen both self-reliance and cooperation to expand a customer-centric AI ecosystem."

Andy Brown, Head of Business for Asia-Pacific at OpenAI, also stated, "Through this joint marketing initiative with SK Telecom, we hope more people will gain easy access to ChatGPT and experience the value of AI in their daily lives."