KT and Korea University are strengthening their AI competitiveness by establishing a joint research and development center to develop AICT technology.

KT announced on the 5th that it signed a business agreement for joint research and development of AICT application technology between KT and Korea University at the Novotel Ambassador Hotel in Dongdaemun, Seoul.

This agreement is based on the practical commercialization of AICT (AI+ICT) application technology. To this end, it includes: △Promoting R&D projects to enhance AI technology perfection and strengthen business competitiveness, △Establishing a KT-Korea University joint research and development center for rapid and practical collaboration, and △Joint use of GPUs for industry-academia research and development.

To ensure close collaboration, the two companies appointed Vice President Oh Seung-pil, head of KT’s Technology Innovation Division, and Professor Yoo Hyuk, vice president for research at Korea University, as the directors of the joint research and development center.

In addition, KT and Korea University will form an advisory committee of six members, three each, to support decision-making necessary for the joint research and development project on AI application technology.

The two companies argued that “open industry-academia cooperation is necessary for businesses that require tangible results and universities that require research innovation in response to rapid technological changes.” KT and Korea University plan to secure technological prowess and business competitiveness in the AI field by promoting industry-academia collaboration technology development that reflects the latest research trends.

The representative tasks selected include △Development of Korean-style Vertical SLM technology, △Responsible AI (RAI, technology to correct or delete facts from learned information), and △Model of Mixture (MoM, research on optimal search for multi-type SLM models), and the technology development will be continuously carried out until the end of 2025.

The joint research and development center will be built with a smart office concept within the KT Umyeon office building.

In particular, KT supports GPU infrastructure to promote AI industry-academia projects.

KT CEO Kim Young-seop said, “We are delighted to be conducting joint research and development with Korea University, which is recognized internationally for its excellent AI capabilities through its own LLM program.” He added, “KT will help customers experience changes in their lives and innovate the industry through practical development collaboration with Korea University. Through this, we will establish our status as an international AICT company and contribute to the development of the Republic of Korea.”

President Kim Dong-won of Korea University said, “I hope that Korea University’s excellent research capabilities will be a great help in achieving the goals of AICT Company.” He added, “I hope that by creating a new model of industry-academia cooperation suitable for the AI era, we will develop into a company and university that contributes to future society.”