SK Telecom said the MIT Generative AI Impact Consortium is an industry-academia collaboration to explore the impact of gen AI technologies on society and industry
Korean telco SK Telecom announced that the carrier is joining the MIT Generative AI Impact Consortium as a founding member to explore commercialization and industry implications of generative AI (gen AI) technologies with MIT faculty and leading global companies.
In a release, the Korean operator noted that MIT GenAI Impact Consortium is an industry-academia collaboration to explore the impact of generative AI technologies on society and industry, with the goal of providing practical direction to the AI industry. The telco also highlighted that MIT has been paying close attention to AI-enabled industrial transformation, with faculty members publishing 25 papers on the topic of generative AI in 2024.
The founding members of this consortium include six global companies: SK Telecom, OpenAI, The Coca-Cola Company, Tata Group, Analog Devices and TWG Global. The MIT consortium plans to select key projects and kick off full-scale research this year.
By participating in this consortium, SK Telecom plans to share its competitiveness and development strategy with the founding member companies and explore potential collaboration opportunities. Also, SK Telecom aims to deliver tangible results created with MIT to its SK AI R&D Center, in areas such as ICT, semiconductors and energy. SK AI R&D Center closely supports business operations in AI-based technology areas including AI modeling, vision AI, digital twins and AI factories.
“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 realized throughout the world,” said Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of the MIT School of Engineering and MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer
Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom, said: “Building on global collaborations, SK Telecom hope to leverage the AI capabilities of the SK Group, with the SK AI R&D Center 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.”
The Asian telecom provider initially introduced the AI agent at the SK AI Summit in Seoul last November, but it officially began recruiting beta testers at CES, with a broader U.S. launch set for later in the year.
Aster is designed as an ‘agentic AI,’ which goes beyond simple Q&A or search functions by understanding users’ intentions to set goals, make plans and complete tasks on their behalf, the telco said.
The AI agent, built on generative AI technology, integrates conversational search through a collaboration with Perplexity, a next-generation AI search platform. Aster focuses on life management, offering users personalized planning, execution, reminders, and advice, according to the telco.
Last year, SK Telecom had announced its ambition to become a global artificial intelligence company by strengthening its own AI competitiveness and cooperating with partners globally.
