'AI for All' starts work at SK Telecom

by Kim Dong-young Posted : September 10, 2026, 10:37Updated : September 10, 2026, 10:37
SK Telecom headquarters in Eulji-ro Seoul Courtesy of SK Telecom
SK Telecom headquarters in Eulji-ro, Seoul/ Courtesy of SK Telecom
 
SEOUL, September 10 (AJP) - SK Telecom set out to build an artificial intelligence assistant that books the hospital slot, files the government form and pays the bill in one conversation, one of three such services South Korea has commissioned.

Partners across eight fields joined the launch at the carrier's T Tower headquarters in central Seoul on Thursday. Areas spanned from education, finance, to public administration and welfare checks on older people living alone.

The announcement comes two weeks after the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency selected the SK Telecom, Kakao and KT consortiums on Aug. 28 to run the AI for All project.

"With companies representing so many fields gathered here, we will properly build a nationwide AI ecosystem that exists nowhere else in the world," said Yoo Kyung-sang, head of SK Telecom's AI CIC.

SK Telecom will serve as orchestrator, matching each request to the model and partner service best suited to it rather than building every function itself.

The project funded by the government aims to give the public free access to domestically built AI ahead of a full launch before year-end.

It also aligns with Seoul pressing for sovereign AI.

Korea launched a separate foundation-model competition that has narrowed to SK Telecom, LG AI Research and Upstage, arguing the country cannot lean on foreign models alone if it is to rank among the world's top three AI powers.

AJP Takeaways

- SK Telecom opened its AI for All consortium on Sept. 10, 2026, at its Seoul headquarters, bringing together partners in eight fields to build an AI agent that completes administrative filings, payments and hospital bookings.

- SK Telecom will act as orchestrator on its A.X K2 foundation model, with a beta service due in October 2026 and a full launch before the end of the year.

- The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency chose the SK Telecom, Kakao and KT consortiums on Aug. 28, 2026, to run the project, an extension of South Korea's sovereign AI push.