Research group SKT Consortium secured a leading position in South Korean government development of AI foundation models using proprietary technologies, advancing the namesake operator’s own efforts in the field.

SK Telecom (SKT) stated the consortium is to work with the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) on the Proprietary AI Foundation Model project, developing a platform using technologies including semiconductors, models, data and services.

It noted open-sourcing the capabilities developed would be a “significant aspect” of the collaboration with the MSIT, empowering local companies and advancing the nation’s “AI innovation ecosystem”.

The consortium comprises SKT, and South Korean industry leaders and research institutions. It was formed to develop a base to advance proprietary AI and has so far published more than 800 research papers, registered 736 patents and delivered in excess of 270 open-source projects.

Core research on the MSIT project is to be led by Kim Tae-yoon, head of the Foundation Model Office at SKT. Professors Lee Kangwook and Dimitris Papailiopoulos of the University of Wisconsin-Madison are on board as key researchers, joining:

  • Gaming company Krafton
  • Mobility AI company 42dot
  • AI inference chip manufacturer Rebellions
  • AI-driven knowledge and search agent technology provider Liner
  • Data reliability technology provider Selectstar
  • Professors from the Seoul National University
  • A professor with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

SKT explained it is “embarking on the development of next-generation large-scale AI models” through the consortium’s work on the MSIT project. It “plans to incorporate omni-modal technology”, which will allow for integrated processing of text, images, speech and video data.

The operator is no stranger to technology development collaborations and earlier this year joined a generative AI consortium led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.