Just nine months after its launch, “A.” – the AI service by SK Telecom (SKT) – has secured one million subscribers in South Korea, according to company CEO Ryu Young-sang, as he outlines his plans to further upgrade the service in the domestic market while taking it global.
“Through acquisition of sufficient knowledge data and machine learning, SKT we are now developing A. features that will enable users to engage in highly intellectual dialogues as well as emotional conversations that make users feel as if they are talking to their friend,” Ryu said today during a press conference at the first day of Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.
He added that plans are on the drawing board to link more features to the AI service for further enhance the customer experience – such as removing the need to move between apps or conduct cumbersome searches.
“The new features, including advanced conversations, multiple characters, and customised content, will be included in the updated version of A. to be released within this quarter. We plan to expand the variety and scope of A. features/services from 30 to 100."
Ryu Young-sang, SKTelecom
He also shared his ambitions to advance into the global market with A. by customising the service to each different market and advancing related technologies in cooperation with global telcos and AI tech companies.
Achieving AI everywhere
SKT will expand time and space for customers by increasing the realm of its business from ground to air and from reality to virtual space. The company wants to expand its role from a mobile operator to mobility operator via services like urban air mobility (UAM), autonomous driving and robots.
“We are moving fast to achieve commercialization of UAM service by developing use cases and conducting test flights, and has gained strong competitiveness in key UAM technologies such as aircrafts, 5G UAM communication network, navigation/ control, and location analysis,” said Ryu.
He also unveiled plans to introduce diverse use cases – e.g. UAM flight between airport and city centers, tourism products, among others. - in collaboration with local governments including Jeju and Daegu.
In the area of autonomous driving, which is being promoted as a long-term project, the company plans to enter into the AI solutions market.
“We will develop a world-class self-driving solution package by combining SAPEON's semiconductor chip for autonomous driving, software technology of Phantom AI, a company SKT decided to invest in, and SKT's experience acquired through the operation of 'Nugu Auto,' an AI platform for automobiles,” said Ryu.
In the area of robots, the company has launched diverse types of robots, including logistics robot and barista robot, and plans to boost the AI ecosystem by cooperating with Qualcomm and Integrit to develop an open robotics data platform.
Taking the metaverse by storm
Ryu also talked about ifland, a metaverse service that takes customers beyond limitations of time and space.
With over 2,500 partners and 4 million monthly active users (MAU), ifland has grown into Korea's representative metaverse service optimized for virtual gatherings.
“We will shape ifland into a global leading social metaverse platform by evolving it into a 3D space-based social networking service in April, expanding ifland's economic system through the adoption of a content marketplace and Web3 system, and increasing partnerships both home and abroad,” said Ryu.
Already, ifland has gained a bridgehead into the European, North American and Asian markets by signing MOUs with global telcos including Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile US, Axiata and CelcomDigi.
Transforming industries with AI technologies
Currently, the company is speeding up AI transformation of industries with AI technologies, working closely with brilliant startups in areas such as infrastructure & hardware, base technology and application/service.
It plans to continuously expand into new business areas, including security, healthcare, advertising, smart factory and enterprise solutions.
“We are witnessing rapid growth in the infrastructure & hardware area by achieving outstanding performance in the AI semiconductor market in partnership with SAPEON,” said Ryu.
AI semiconductor chip X330 to be released by SAPEON I in the second half of this year is expected to provide four times stronger performance than its predecessor, X220. SAPEON is increasing its market presence by supplying chips to NHN Cloud, SKT NPU (Neural Processing Unit) Farm, SK Hynix's Smart Factory, and expanding the ecosystem through close collaboration with Phantom AI (autonomous driving), and Konan Technology (deep learning model).
By attracting investment, SAPEON saw its corporate value increase by more than six times in less than a year, from KRW 80 billion at the time of establishment in 2022 to KRW 500 billion in 2023.
AI and the cloud
In the cloud business, SKT is creating synergies with Bespin Global, Asia's No.1 managed service provider by cooperating with OpsNow to jointly develop an AI-based cloud management platform.
In the area of base technology & application/service, the company launched an integrated advertising platform 'ASUM' by combining its massive customer data with Moloco's AI/machine learning technology.
In addition, in cooperation with AI software company Konan Technology, SKT is working to expand into diverse industries, including robot, media, data analysis, commerce, airport and manufacturing, with AI video, machine learning and digital twinning, etc.
The company is also collaborating with Swit, a global work OS solution provider, to integrate internal and external services including MeetUs and Toktok, conduct joint marketing leveraging sales capabilities of SKT and SKB, and advance AI technologies.
“Armed with world-class vision AI technologies, we plan to advance into the global market through cooperation with global top cloud service providers,” said Ryu.
“We are generating tangible results by offering 'X Caliber,' a vision AI-based veterinary image diagnostic solution adopted by over 120 veterinary clinics, and other services such as security dispatch and industrial safety management using AI cameras. “
