SK Telecom (SKT) and Deutsche Telekom have announced a collaboration to develop a broad AI-based language model (LLM) aimed at powering digital assistants for customer service in the telecommunications industry. This deal marks the first step in an AI alliance formed this year by SK Telecom, DT, e& and Singtel, with a particular focus on virtual assistants. According to Deutsche Telekom, the two companies will work on a multilingual AI model in collaboration with major AI industry players, including Anthropic and Meta Platforms, and plan to present the first version of their chatbot by the first quarter of 2024. The German telecom giant predicted that this language model will have a significant impact on telecom companies in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, helping them develop their own personalized AI assistants.
Claudia Nemat, Deutsche Telekom board member responsible for technology and innovation, commented: “AI offers impressive potential to significantly improve human capabilities in problem solving.” She added that training a model based on Deutsche Telekom’s unique data will complement this development, leading to more advanced solutions in customer service. In a separate statement, SKT highlighted that this collaboration responds to a growing demand for AI-based solutions from industry players and highlighted how this technology is useful not only in service centers, but also in network monitoring and in on-site operations.