"Leading AI Excellence" SK Telecom Wins Next-Generation AI Semiconductor Development Project

[Asia Economy Reporter Seolgina Jo] SK Telecom has won the government-led project to develop next-generation intelligent semiconductors for servers, aiming to become the top nation in artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors. Going forward, the consortium led by SK Telecom will develop world-class high-performance AI semiconductors and ultra-high-speed interface technologies for high-performance servers such as cloud data centers over the next eight years.

According to SK Telecom on the 23rd, a total of 15 large and small companies, universities, and research institutes, including SK Hynix, Seoul National University, KAIST, FuriosaAI, OpenEdge, DeepX, Alpha Solutions, and Korea Electronics Technology Institute (KETI), will jointly participate in this R&D project alongside SK Telecom, which plays the overall coordinating role. SK Telecom plans to develop the core technology, the AI processor core, and collaborate with partners to develop the necessary element technologies.

Accordingly, during the eight-year project period, the AI processor chip will be developed and its performance enhanced in three phases. The processor chip’s computing performance will be capable of processing 200 trillion operations per second (200 Tera FLOPS), and AI servers utilizing this chip will be able to process 2 quadrillion operations per second (2 Peta FLOPS). However, since this project is long-term, the performance targets will be continuously upgraded to match the latest AI processor performance as technology advances.

SK Telecom plans to apply the developed technology to its own cloud data centers and domestically produce server AI semiconductors, while also entering the global market.

Previously, SK Telecom jointly developed high-performance AI semiconductors through public-private collaboration, and by actively participating in this next-generation AI semiconductor development, it expects to further solidify its position as a leader in large-scale AI computing.

When server AI semiconductors are applied to data centers, the processing capacity and speed of data centers will be greatly improved. The synergy will be maximized when AI data centers combine with 5G networks, enabling low-spec devices to use high-quality AI services without latency through SK Telecom’s edge cloud.

The developed AI processor platform and know-how will be made public to support academic research and new chip development by startups. This will enable small and medium-sized enterprises or startups to develop AI processor chips optimized for various purposes at low cost and high speed.

According to market research firm Tractica, the AI semiconductor market is expected to grow rapidly at an average annual rate of 45%, from about 6 trillion KRW in 2018 to about 81.7 trillion KRW in 2025. In particular, the market is expected to shift from GPU-centric to next-generation AI semiconductors centered on NPUs (Neural Processing Units) developed in this project.

Kim Yoon, CTO of SK Telecom, said, “SK Telecom has taken on a unique and important role in the government’s AI national strategy aiming for world No. 1 in AI semiconductors,” adding, “Through proactive technology investment and commercial service innovation in large-scale AI semiconductors, which are in the early stages of market formation, we will contribute to Korea’s success as a memory powerhouse also in the AI semiconductor field.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.