The race to dominate the AI cloud is intensifying, with South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom (SKT) partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to develop customized AI cloud services. This collaboration seeks to deliver tailored solutions for key industries, potentially transforming how businesses utilize AI both regionally and globally.
The partnership will concentrate on creating offerings specifically for sectors such as finance, manufacturing, retail, and gaming. By combining SKT’s industry knowledge with AWS‘s strong global cloud infrastructure, the two companies aim to provide a more compelling and specialized AI cloud experience.
SKT highlights its intention to leverage its industry-specific AI deployment and operation expertise,
integrating it with AWS’s global cloud infrastructure and AI service capabilities.
This indicates a shift from generic AI solutions to a more refined understanding of specific industry requirements.
SK AX, the IT services division of SK Group (formerly known as SK C&C), will also play a significant role in this initiative. Their involvement further enhances the partnership’s ability to deliver comprehensive AI cloud solutions.
The partnership extends beyond cloud-based processing. SKT intends to connect AWS infrastructure with its own AI resources, including powerful GPUs, for on-premises data processing. This hybrid approach provides greater flexibility and control over data, which is particularly crucial for sensitive industries like finance.
This hybrid model addresses a key concern for many businesses: the need to balance the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the cloud with the security and control of on-premises infrastructure.
“This agreement demonstrates ‘a new collaboration model for the AI era’… it will support ‘the journey of realising AI transformation across all industries in Korea with partners which can apply AI beyond pilots to actual production environments.'” – Heo Jeong-yeol, head of partner business at AWS Korea
Shin Jang-soo, head of SK AX Cloud, echoed this sentiment, stating the partnership will provide an AI cloud operating environment offering “productivity, flexibility, cost efficiency and security to customers in various industries.”
Recognizing the importance of security in the age of AI, SKT also plans to develop cloud AI security standards and build a security assessment model based on its AI governance portal. This proactive approach to security aims to build trust and confidence in the AI cloud environment.
This move towards robust security measures is crucial; as businesses become increasingly reliant on AI, the need to protect sensitive data and prevent malicious attacks becomes paramount.
The SKT and AWS partnership represents a significant step toward democratizing AI and making it more accessible to businesses of all sizes. As AI continues to evolve, collaborations like this will be essential for driving innovation and shaping the future of the AI cloud landscape, not just in Korea, but potentially setting a precedent for global partnerships.
