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SK Telecom has joined the “MIT GenAI Impact Consortium” as a founding member to explore the real-world applications and business impact of generative AI
MIT has been actively studying generative AI-driven industrial transformation, with researchers publishing 25 papers on generative AI in the past year. Now, the university is forming a GenAI Impact Consortium aimed at better understanding how this new technology will shape the future of industries and society.
The founding members of the consortium include six global companies from various industries SK Telecom, OpenAI, The Coca-Cola Company, Indian conglomerate Tata Group, Analog Devices, and wealth management company TWG Global.
The project is supported by MIT President Sally Kornbluth and led by Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of the MIT School of Engineering and Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer.
The consortium will select key projects and oversee research efforts, which have not yet been stated.
“The MIT GenAI Impact Consortium is the ideal bridge between academia and industry,” said Chandrakasan. “While Generative AI and LLMs are reshaping everything, the consortium aims to break down barriers, bring together disciplines, and commit to ensuring the benefits of Generative AI are realised throughout the world,” said Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of the MIT School of Engineering and MIT’s Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer in a press release.
For SK Telecom, the consortium will allow the company share AI expertise from a telco perspective, as well as exploring new collaboration opportunities and apply MIT’s research insights to its existing AI R&D Centre.
In December last year, the company announced a company restructuring to focus on two areas: AI and telecommunications. As part of this, AI R&D areas were merged to strengthen AI and digital transformation (AT/DT) capabilities. The centre leads SK Group’s AI strategy, focusing on areas such as ICT, semiconductors, energy, and AI-driven technologies such as digital twins and AI-powered factories.
Research projects will officially begin this year.
“As a founding member of the MIT Consortium, we are excited to collaborate with MIT’s world-class faculty,” said Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom.
“Building on global collaborations, SK Telecom hope to leverage the AI capabilities of the SK Group, with the SK AI R&D Centre at its core, to drive AI innovation across industries. Beyond generative AI, we will broaden our scope to encompass next-generation research areas and to convergent Vertical AI such as physical AI, manufacturing, and biotechnology,” he continued.
SKT are making an effort to become a world leading telco in AI. Last June, SKT, along with Deutsche Telekom, e&, Singtel and SoftBank signed a joint venture for telco AI development, making them the founding partners of the Global Telco AI Alliance.
The five companies have agreed to develop Large Language Models (LLMs) that are specifically designed to meet telco needs, in areas such as improving customer interactions via digital assistants and chatbots. The LLMs will be tailored to the needs of the five companies in their respective markets.
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