SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom Join Forces to Develop Telco-Specific AI Language Model

SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom have signed a partnership deal to develop a Large Language Model designed for artificial intelligence (AI). The two telecom firms will work on creating a telecom-focused LLM that will be available in English, Korean, and German.

SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom's new AI language model is set to be released within the first quarter of 2024. As the firms are jointly working on this project, they will be able to create generative artificial intelligence models quickly and with ease. This is because each company has the tools needed to create the technology, so their joint efforts will make the process easier.

LLM Development to Cater to Different Languages

According to Business Korea, SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are co-developing the telco-specific multilingual LLM model in collaboration with other major companies such as Meta and Anthropic. Initially, the technology will cater to three languages first.

The telecoms' LLM is said to have a high-level comprehension of telecommunications services related to domains. It is also proficient at understanding user intentions, and these traits make it especially cut out for applications in AI call centers and other functions related to customer service.

Main Goal for the LLM Joint Venture

The Korea Economic Daily reported that these AI-based call centers will utilize SKT and Deutsche Telekom's LLM. The former also said that its AI integration package - AI Full Stack Structure and Connection Standards - was marked an international standard during a study group of the International Telecommunication Union's Telecommunication Standardization Sector that was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from Oct. 16 to Oct. 20.

SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom will now use their LLM creation to advance to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The expansion to other countries turned out to be the main objective of the companies for their joint venture.

"Through our partnership with Deutsche Telekom, we have secured a strong opportunity and momentum to gain global AI leadership and drive new growth," SK Telecom's chief executive officer, Ryu Young Sang, said in a press release. "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."

Claudia Nemat, Deutsche Telekom's board member for technology and innovation, further commented, "AI shows impressive potential to enhance human problem-solving capabilities significantly. 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."

Photo by: SK Telecom Press Release