SK Telecom's elite team, which is participating in the Ministry of Science and ICT's "independent artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model" project, said on the 19th that it successfully wrapped up the "2025 Foundation Model Tech Workshop" held with university students and AI researchers. The project is part of the government's large-scale AI ecosystem initiative and totals 18.21073 billion won.
The workshop took place at the SK Telecom elite team's dedicated space, the "War Room," set up by KRAFTON in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. The War Room is an open workspace prepared to enable smooth collaboration among organizations participating in the SK Telecom consortium. It is equipped with advanced digital equipment and a collaborative environment so that engineers and researchers can be stationed on site to carry out joint development, performance verification, and prototype testing.
The event was organized for SK Telecom's elite team to introduce the direction of the independent foundation model project to various stakeholders, including AI researchers and university students, and to exchange views to advance Korea's AI technology.
Eight institutions that took part that day—SK Telecom, KRAFTON, 42dot, Rebellions, Liner, SelectStar, Seoul National University, and KAIST—shared the latest technologies and applications in foundation model research and sought ways to strengthen cooperation in the domestic AI ecosystem.
The presentation sessions covered a range of topics, including large-scale model training (SK Telecom), preliminary research on foundation models (Seoul National University and KAIST), AI Semiconductor (Rebellions), and real-world application cases (KRAFTON).
Kim Tae-yoon, who oversees the foundation model at SK Telecom, shared the background and research direction behind taking on the rare challenge in Korea of developing an ultra-large model with 500B (50 billion) parameters, under the theme "Korea's AI national team, the SK Telecom consortium's independent foundation model."
Seoul National University Professor Kim Keon-hee and KAIST Professor Lee Gi-min each presented results on audio generation based on multimodal learning and on action models extending large language models, while Rebellions Chief Software Architect Kim Hong-seok shared inference optimization technology based on a domestically produced AI Semiconductor.
At KRAFTON, Manager Jegal Yoon introduced the in-house AI agent "KRIS (KRafton Intelligence System)." Next, Head of Team Kim Hyun-seung explained "PUBG Ally," a new concept CPC (Co-Playable Character) that plays games with users while conversing and interacting in real time. The two sessions drew attention as cases where AI technology goes beyond research to transform actual gameplay experiences.
Kim Tae-yoon, who oversees the foundation model at SK Telecom, said, "It was a valuable time to connect with workshop participants about the development philosophy pursued by the SK Telecom elite team's independent AI foundation model, and to address questions from the user's perspective."
Lee Kang-uk, head of AI at KRAFTON, said, "This workshop was a meaningful occasion to share the SK Telecom consortium's research achievements and to lay the groundwork for collaboration between domestic AI researchers and industry," and added, "KRAFTON will continue to expand activities that can contribute to the development of the domestic AI ecosystem."