- Companies sign LOI for joint development of a large language
model specifically for telecommunication companies.
- Telco-specific LLM will be built through collaboration with
AI companies and unveiled in the first quarter of 2024.
- Collaboration between the two companies is expected to
strengthen their leadership in AI and lead to a thriving global AI
ecosystem.
SEOUL,
South Korea, Oct. 22,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM, "SKT") and
Deutsche Telekom today announced that they signed a Letter of
Intent (LOI) to jointly develop a telco-specific LLM that enables
global telecommunication companies (telcos) to develop generative
AI models easily and quickly.
The LOI signing ceremony took place at SK Seorin Building
located in Seoul with the
attendance of key executives from both companies including
Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SKT,
Chung Suk-geun, Chief AI Global
Officer of SKT, Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, Claudia Nemat, Board Member Technology and
Innovation of Deutsche Telekome, and Jonathan Abrahamson, Chief Product and Digital
Officer of Deutsche Telekom.
This marks the first fruition of discussions held by the Global
Telco AI Alliance, which was launched by SKT, Deutsche Telekom,
E&, and Singtel, in July 2023,
and lays the foundation to enter the global market.
SKT and Deutsche Telekom plan to collaborate with AI companies
such as Anthropic (Claude 2) and Meta (Llama2) to co-develop a
multilingual – i.e, German, English, Korean, etc. – large language
model (LLM) tailored to the needs of telcos. They plan to unveil
the first version of the telco-specific LLM in the first quarter of
2024.
The telco-specific LLM will have a higher understanding of
telecommunication service-related areas and customer's intentions
than general LLMs, making it suitable for customer services like AI
contact center.
The goal is to support telcos across the world, including
Europe, Asia, and the Middle
East, to develop generative AI services such as AI agents
flexibly according to their respective environment.
This will enable telcos to save both time and cost for
developing large platforms, and secure new business opportunities
and growth engines through AI innovation that shifts the paradigm
in the traditional telecommunications industry.
To this end, SKT and Deutsche Telekom plan to jointly develop AI
platform technologies that telcos can use to create generative AI
services to reduce both development time and cost.
For instance, when a telco tries to build an AI contact center
based on generative AI, it itself will be able to build one that
suits their environment more quickly and flexibly. In addition, AI
can be applied to other areas such as network monitoring and
on-site operations to increase efficiency, resulting in cost
savings in the mid- to long-term.
Through this collaboration, the two companies will proactively
respond to the recent surge in AI demand from telcos, while also
promoting the expansion of the global AI ecosystem through the
successful introduction of generative AI optimized for specific
industries or domains.
"AI shows impressive potential to significantly enhance human
problem-solving capabilities. To maximize its use especially in
customer service, we need to adapt existing large language models
and train them with our unique data. This will elevate our
generative AI tools," says Claudia
Nemat, Member of the Board of Management for Technology and
Innovation at Deutsche Telekom.
"Through our partnership with Deutsche Telekom, we have secured
a strong opportunity and momentum to gain global AI leadership and
drive new growth," said Ryu
Young-sang, CEO of SKT. "By combining the strengths and
capabilities of the two companies in AI technology, platform and
infrastructure, we expect to empower enterprises in many different
industries to deliver new and higher value to their customers."
About SK Telecom
SK Telecom has been leading the growth of the mobile industry
since 1984. Now, it is taking customer experience to new heights by
extending beyond connectivity. By placing AI at the core of its
business, SK Telecom is rapidly transforming into an AI company. It
is focusing on driving innovations in areas of telecommunications,
media, AI, metaverse, cloud and connected intelligence to deliver
greater value for both individuals and enterprises.
For more information, please visit our LinkedIn page
www.linkedin.com/company/sk-telecom.
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SOURCE SK Telecom