KT ties up with Thai company for SE Asia hyperscale AI

KT Corp., South Korea’s No.2 mobile carrier, is set to foray into the large language model (LLM) sector in Southeast Asia amid the country's saturated telecom market by exporting its hyperscale artificial intelligence service to Thailand.

KT said on Sunday it joined hands with Thailand’s communication and information technology company Jasmine Group to together create an LLM for the Thai language based on the South Korean carrier’s AI service MI:DEUM.

KT aims to increase its business based on the Thai LLM in Southeast Asia.

The cooperation came after the company and Jasmine Technology Solution PCL (JTS), the group’s telecommunications and information technology systems affiliate, last month agreed to jointly develop and work on LLMs dedicated to Thailand and Southeast Asia.

“The two companies hope to make inroads into the Southeast Asian AI sector for great success,” said KT CEO Kim Young-shub.

The region’s generative AI market was forecast to surge by more than five times to $7.7 billion by 2030 from a projected $1.4 billion this year, according to the German online data platform Statista.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN LLM

KT and Jasmine Group aims to set up the Thai LLM in the second half of next year with a plan to cooperate in other Southeast Asian countries such as Laos and Cambodia through the development of an LLM business only for the region.

The South Korean carrier is set to transfer the technology and know-how for the LLM's establishment, while Jasmine is poised to focus on a graphics processing unit farm, a base for the Southeast Asian market analysis and model development. The two companies will work together to deal with regulations on AI in the region.

The cooperation is expected to increase demand for MI:DEUM, KT’s hyperscale AI to be officially launched later this month, in Southeast Asia, KT said.

“It is significant as we joined hands with the company amid the growing call for sovereign AI capabilities across the world,” said a KT official. “The deal also suggests overseas markets highly appreciate our domestic hyperscale AI technology.”

Non-English-speaking countries have begun seeking to develop their own AI technologies to protect their digital sovereignty from Big Tech companies in English-speaking nations such as the US.

Naver Corp., South Korea’s online giant, unveiled a goal to expand its presence in the global market through the movement for sovereign AI in August when it debuted its upgraded LLM HyperCLOVA X.

By Ji-Eun Jeong

jeong@hankyug.com

 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.