South Korea Telco Company to Invest $5.4B in AI

Korean telecom giant KT Corp is planning to invest $5.4 billion (7 trillion won) on AI by 2027.

KT expects to invest in building and upgrading AI infrastructure as well as in places to develop AI models, according to local media.

The Korean Economic Daily reports that the majority of KT’s investment will go towards “securing source technologies of super AI.”

Song Jae-ho, the head of KT’s AI division, said the company would use the experience it has garnered in telecom to offer customized AI services for various industries.

“The AI industry is growing at a very rapid pace. We concluded we have to invest now,” Song said, adding that the company is expecting to generate $1 billion (1.3 trillion won) in revenue in 2025 from AI alone.

Among the markets KT is targeting is health care, education and robotics. The company has already worked on some robotics projects, such as a series of server units for hospitality settings.

Among the offerings KT is looking to launch are an AI-based learning platform for education and remote health care services for patients with chronic diseases.

The Korean telco has struck a new partnership to expand its AI work, joining up with Singaporean provider Singtel to launch an AI-powered transportation platform in Singapore later this year.

KT already enjoys several partnerships before making its announcement this week. One with Korean startup AVAdin saw the pair showcase Genie, a companion bot designed for elder care back in 2021.

KT also enjoys a partnership with Turk Telekom, with the pair working on AI and 5G services, including robotics, smart cities, autonomous vehicles and cloud services. KT had penned a similar partnership with Russia’s largest telecom operator MTS.

This article first appeared on IoT World Today's sister site, AI Business.