KT to invest $5.4 bn by 2027 to develop AI platforms

South Korea’s telecom service provider KT Corp. will spend about 7 trillion won ($5.4 billion) by 2027 to become the country’s largest artificial intelligence service provider, mainly targeting the robot, healthcare and education markets.

”Utilizing the experience we accumulated in the telecommunications field, we will provide customized AI services to various industries to grow our business,” Song Jae-ho, vice president of KT and head of its AI and DX Convergence Division, said on Wednesday.

The sum of 7 trillion won will break down into 4 trillion won to secure source technologies of super AI; 2 trillion won to upgrade AI-related infrastructure; and 1 trillion won to develop AI service models.

“The AI industry is growing at a very rapid pace. We concluded we have to invest now,” he said in a press conference.

KT has adopted AI technology to automate call center tasks and some logistics processes.

Its AI robots offer a one-stop service from ordering to payment and serving, which is drawing interest from short-staffed restaurants, hotels, resorts and hospitals, said Lee Sang-ho, head of KT’s AI robot business.

KT analyzes 60 million cases of data daily to minimize disruptions to its AI services. It plans to unveil indoor and outdoor delivery robots, small logistics robots for factories and delivery robots for agricultural produce within the year.

“We will generate 1.3 trillion won ($1 billion) in revenue in 2025 from five AI-related service areas -- contact centers, logistics, robots, healthcare and education,” Song told reporters.

For the healthcare sector, it will offer remote healthcare services for patients with chronic diseases from the second half of this year. Its care coordinator groups composed of nurses and dietitians will offer customized healthcare services based on AI-analyzed data.

In the education service market, KT will develop AI-based learning platforms to help students assess their own performance and teach themselves.

Looking beyond the home turf, KT is teaming up with Singtel, Singapore’s No. 1 telecom service provider, to launch an AI-powered transportation platform in Singapore later this year.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong at jeong@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.