KT Forms Global AI Alliance with Canada's 'Vector Institute'

Collaboration in AI Joint Research, Talent Development, and Global Ecosystem Expansion in Three Areas

Kim Chae-hee, Head of KT Strategic Planning Office (left), and Gus Gibson, CEO of Vector Institute, are taking a commemorative photo after signing a partnership at the Vector Institute located in Toronto, Canada, on the 22nd (local time). Photo by KT

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] KT is joining forces with Canada’s world-class artificial intelligence (AI) research institute, the Vector Institute, to strengthen its global AI competitiveness.

On the 23rd, KT announced that it signed a partnership with the Vector Institute, located in Toronto, Canada, and will collaborate on research and development (R&D) and business cooperation in the AI field, a key pillar of its Digico (digital platform company) business.

The Vector Institute was established in 2017 through investments from Ontario, Canada, and private companies. It was co-founded by Geoffrey Hinton, the pioneer of deep learning and a leading authority in AI, who also serves as the institute’s chief advisor. The institute collaborates with prominent companies such as Google and NVIDIA, establishing itself as a world-renowned AI research organization.

Through this partnership, KT plans to collaborate with the Vector Institute in three areas within the AI field: ▲joint R&D ▲training of specialized talent ▲expansion of the global ecosystem.

Through joint research projects, the two parties plan to apply technologies such as large-scale AI model-based speech recognition and vision AI to KT’s AI services. The speech recognition technology secured through the Giga Genie service, which has over 3 million domestic subscribers, will be utilized to enhance the AI Contact Center (AICC) and AI call assistant.

KT will expand the training of world-class AI talent by utilizing the Vector Institute’s educational programs. In addition to nurturing internal specialized R&D personnel, KT plans to elevate its youth talent development programs, such as Able School, to a global level, contributing to national AI talent cultivation. By linking the AI ecosystems of KT and the Vector Institute, KT also plans to discover promising local startups necessary for domestic service development and support domestic AI tech companies in their global expansion.

KT has actively worked to build and expand the Digico ecosystem in the AI field. Since 2020, it has formed an AI One Team with the country’s top academic, research, and industrial institutions and companies to cooperate on the development of Korea’s AI industry, technology advancement, and talent cultivation. KT has also invested in promising startups in the AI semiconductor field, such as Rebellion and More, and is strengthening national AI semiconductor competitiveness through business cooperation.

Gus Gibson, CEO of the Vector Institute, said, “We welcome the collaboration with KT, Korea’s leading digital platform company,” adding, “We expect meaningful business outcomes in the global market through the synergy of KT’s AI business expertise and the Vector Institute’s technological capabilities.”

Kim Chae-hee, Head of KT’s Strategic Planning Office, emphasized, “This is a meaningful first step for KT to partner with a global number one partner based on its Digico business,” and said, “Through this cooperation, KT will secure global competitiveness and share opportunities for technology and business growth with excellent domestic companies.”

KT plans to accelerate its global expansion centered on the Digico business, and it expects that the partnership with Canada’s Vector Institute will serve as an important catalyst for the global expansion of the Digico ecosystem.

Meanwhile, KT and the Vector Institute jointly participated in the “Meeting with Korean-Canadian AI Scholars” held the same day at the University of Toronto. At the event, Kim said, “I am honored to attend this meaningful occasion to discuss AI cooperation between the two countries,” and announced, “KT is focusing on investing in and nurturing talent in Digico technologies such as AI, big data, and cloud, and through the partnership with the Vector Institute, we will actively contribute to strengthening AI ecosystem leadership between the two countries.”

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