SK Telecom's independently developed artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model will be applied on manufacturing sites.
SK Telecom said on the 25th that it signed separate strategic memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with steel manufacturing corporations KG Steel and auto parts manufacturing corporations Connec to push a field pilot of AI agents based on its independent AI foundation model project.
This is the first case of SK Telecom's independent AI foundation model project being applied to manufacturing.
Since April, SK Telecom has secured high-quality data such as past process error and accident analysis reports and equipment manuals held by KG Steel and Connec, and developed a demo version of a "manufacturing-specialized AI agent" based on the independent AI foundation model project A.X K1 (adot X K1).
A.X K1 is a large-scale language model with 519 billion parameters. While it excels at handling complex tasks, only about 33 billion parameters are activated during inference. The overall model is large, but only the necessary parts are activated, making it efficient for use in industrial settings.
SK Telecom and KG Steel and Connec plan to apply the demo version in the second half of this year to the cold rolling line at KG Steel's Dangjin plant, which produces coated steel sheets, and to Connec's casting and machining processes, respectively, to conduct on-site verification.
KG Steel and Connec will share more high-quality manufacturing process data with SK Telecom in real time, and SK Telecom will improve the performance and inference speed of the "manufacturing-specialized AI agent" based on this data and on-site feedback generated during the pilot. After the pilot is completed, they plan to review commercialization and adoption, and, if necessary, will also consider replacing the model with a follow-up series of SK Telecom's independent AI foundation model project.
SK Telecom's independent AI foundation model project supports not only cloud deployment but also a closed on-premise (on-premise, directly installed on in-house servers) environment, enabling use within corporations without exporting manufacturing process data externally.
SK Telecom is expanding the application scope of its independent AI foundation model project. Last month, SK Telecom signed an MOU with the Ministry of National Defense for "utilizing the Ministry of Science and ICT's independent AI foundation model project in the defense sector," and decided to apply the independent AI foundation model project to the defense domain, where security and Data Sovereignty are critical.
Jeong Seok-geun, head of SK Telecom's AI CIC, said, "In manufacturing sites where security is critical, an independent AI foundation model project that can be used without sending data outside is an effective solution," adding, "Starting with collaboration with KG Steel and Connec, we will accelerate manufacturing's AI transition and expand the use cases of the independent AI foundation model project."