Press Release

SAPEON , a global AI semiconductor company, proudly announced their partnership with DOCOMO Innovations, INC. based in Silicon Valley, a subsidiary of Japan’s largest mobile operator, NTT DOCOMO, INC..

This collaboration marks a significant step in expanding AI services, focusing on cost reduction, enhancing internal operations, and accelerating the development of innovative AI solutions. SAPEON and DOCOMO Innovations have entered into an agreement to explore various applications, including Large Language Models (LLMs), image and video processing, and computer vision AI applications. They will conduct Proof of Concept (PoC) to solidify these advancements.

As a part of this initiative, DOCOMO Innovations has commenced testing of SAPEON’s newly launched AI semiconductor, the X330 which enables them to test customized models and Large Language Models (LLMs). This follows, after having tested the SAPEON X220, which has been proven to have high performance.

This cutting-edge service will be instrumental in multiple sectors, including healthcare, finance, insurance, and call centers, enhancing functions like voice recognition, converting conversations to text, and automated responses. SAPEON ‘X330’ is an AI semiconductor for data centers that provides more than 4 times the performance and more than 2 times the power efficiency of our existing product the X220.

SAPEON plans to target AI service model development companies and data center markets with the X330, which boasts enhanced capabilities which support Large Language Models (LLMs). SAPEON is currently conducting X330 prototype testing and reliability verification with key customers, and is gearing up for mass production to meet growing demand.

SAPEON completed the development of the semiconductor design asset with intellectual property (IP) for autonomous driving and has obtained the functional safety standard (ISO26262).

Looking ahead, we are preparing to launch high-performance edge AI semiconductors. SAPEON plans to provide customized solutions using its AI semiconductors in various industries, not only in data centers.

Soojung Ryu, CEO of SAPEON commented, “SAPEON is at the forefront of AI semiconductor development and has played a leading role in driving the advancement of related markets. We are proud to be the first enterprise in Korea to develop AI semiconductors for data centers in 2020.” Following our announcement, “we are excited to collaborate with DOCOMO Innovations to engage with a broader customer base”.

Yoshikazu Akinaga, President & CEO of DOCOMO Innovations commented, “As a leader in technological innovation, DOCOMO Innovations is committed to embracing new platforms and an open approach, enabling us to persistently push the envelope and innovate in order to provide our customers with unparalleled solutions. We are diligently evaluating SAPEON’s technology and excited about the potential collaboration with them to pioneer a new generation in the AI world.”

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News

SK Telecom (SKT), Deutsche Telekom, e&, Singtel, and Softbank will jointly own the new company, which is set to be created later this year

In the summer of last year, SKT, Deutsche Telekom, e&, and Singtel joined forces to create the Global Telco AI Alliance (GTAA), an industry initiative to jointly  explore AI in the telco space.

Now, having been joined by Japan’s Softbank, the GTAA are taking the partnership one step further, announcing their intention to create a new joint venture focussed on developing large language models (LLMs) specifically for the telco sector.

Initial plans will see the LLMs developed in Korean, English, German, Arabic, and Japanese, with additional languages to come later.

“We as telcos need to develop tailored LLM for the telco industry to make telco operations more efficient, which is a low-hanging fruit. Our ultimate goal is to discover new business models by redefining relationships with customers. The Global Telco AI Alliance brings synergy to its members by allowing them to achieve more by working as a team,” explained Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SKT.

Speaking at an SKT press meeting earlier this week – reportedly the first of its kind held for Western journalists at MWC – the company explained that current, general purpose LLMs like ChatGPT may be unsuited to telco-specific tasks.

For example, a customer asking a telco’s chatbot, based on ChatGPT, how to cancel their service plan could simply receive direct, step-by-step instructions on how to cancel as a result. This, naturally, is bad news for the telco.

Instead, an AI chatbot that understands the telco business would answer in a way more akin to a contact centre agent, asking why the customer was thinking of leaving and whether alternative services packages could be offered to entice them to stay.

In short, by jointly creating a telco specific LLM, based on all members combined subscriber data, the telcos will be able to offer more enhanced, personalized, and efficient customer experiences.

“This multi-lingual LLM tailored for telcos will greatly expand chatbot capabilities with relevant responses to customers’ technical queries, freeing up service agents to deal with more complex customer issues,” explained Yuen Kuan Moon, Group Chief Executive Officer, Singtel.

The joint venture will be formally created later this year, with details around investment and ownership structure left unnannounced.

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News 

The deal is expected to begin around 2026 

Bouygues Telecom, the telecoms unit of French conglomerate Bouygues, has announced that it has signed an exclusivity agreement with La Poste Group, to purchase La Poste Telecom for €950 million.  

This total is set to be adjusted according to the timing of the transaction itself, with current estimates sitting at approximately €963.4 million. 

Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) La Poste Telecom is currently 51% owned by La Poste Group, with the remainder (49%) owned by Bouygues rival French telco SFR. 

Bouygues will buy 100% of the company. 

La Poste Telecom currently serves 2.3 million customers, generating roughly €300 million in annual sales, via a wholesale agreement with SFR. This agreement is set to expire at the end of 2026, at which points the La Poste Telecom customers will be migrated to Bouygues own mobile network. 

According to Bouygues, while this will entail integration costs, it will not require the deployment of additional network capacity. 

Bouygues Telecom currently has over 23 million mobile customers, which the company expects to grow as a result of the new deal by leveraging La Poste’s distribution network and benefitting from a brand that is strong and recognised for its values of “trust and proximity.”  

“Thanks to this agreement, Bouygues Telecom will be able to increase its customer base and strengthen its position in both mobile and fixed services drawing on La Poste’s distribution network throughout the country,” said Benoît Torloting, CEO of Bouygues Telecom in a press release. 

“Bouygues Telecom will bring its expertise and the quality of its fixed and mobile infrastructures to La Poste Mobile, on which La Poste Mobile will be able to draw to continue its development,” he continued. 

The transaction is subject to standard regulatory approval, and is expected to close by the end of the year. 

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Also in the news:
VMO2 records £3.3bn loss as interest rates begin to bite
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