SK Telecom said on June 25 it will begin applying its self-developed proprietary AI foundation model at manufacturing sites.

SKT signed strategic memorandums of understanding with steel manufacturer KG Steel and automotive parts manufacturer Konec to pursue on-site demonstrations of AI agents based on its proprietary AI foundation model.

The company said the partnership is SKT's first case of applying its proprietary AI foundation model to manufacturing.

SKT said it has secured high-quality data since April, including past process error and accident analysis reports, equipment manuals and logs held by KG Steel and Konec. It developed a demo version of a manufacturing-focused AI agent based on its proprietary AI foundation model, A.X K1.

A.X K1 is a large language model with 519 billion parameters. SKT and KG Steel and Konec will apply the demo version of the manufacturing-focused AI agent in the second half to the cold rolling line at KG Steel's Dangjin plant, which produces galvanized steel sheets, and to Konec's casting and machining processes for on-site demonstrations.

KG Steel and Konec will share more manufacturing process data with SKT in real time. SKT will use the data and on-site feedback generated during the demonstration process to improve the AI agent's performance and inference speed and expand its functions. After the demonstration is completed, they plan to review commercialization and adoption of the manufacturing-focused AI agent, and if necessary, also review replacing the model with a follow-up series of SKT's proprietary AI foundation model.

Jeong Seok-geun (정석근), head of SKT's AI CIC, said a proprietary AI foundation model that can be used without sending data outside is an effective solution for manufacturing sites where security is important. He said SKT will work with KG Steel and Konec to accelerate AI transformation in manufacturing and expand use cases for its proprietary AI foundation model.