SK's semiconductor design unit launches AI chip

SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang delivers an opening speech during this year’s SK Tech Summit conference at the COEX convention center in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of SK Telecom

SK holds Tech Summit focusing on AI

By Baek Byung-yeul

SK’s chip design unit Sapeon unveiled a new AI chip for data centers at SK Group’s ICT conference SK Tech Summit, with an aim to improving its presence in the fast-growing market, the company said Thursday.

Sapeon said its X330, an AI chip for data centers is four times faster than its predecessor X220. The launch is three years after Sapeon released its first AI chip for data centers in 2020. The new product is also the first achievement since the company was spun off from SK Telecom in 2022.

“Since SAPEON launched the X220 – Korea’s first AI semiconductor for data centers – in 2020, we have completed verification in the market by providing a set of basic services and are continuously expanding our commercial service areas into fields such as automobiles, security and media,” Sapeon CEO Ryu Soo-jung said. “Our strategy is to accelerate targeting AI service model development companies and data center markets with the X330.”

SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang, right, speaks with Ryu Soo-jung, left, CEO of SK’s chip design unit Sapeon during SK Tech Summit at the COEX Convention Center in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of SK Telecom

In addition to the launch of the AI chip, 33 participants introduced technologies, services and products at SK Tech Summit, a two-day run conference on Thursday and Friday, as 17 SK Group affiliates and their partners showcased 218 cutting-edge technologies.

SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang said SK Group is seeking to embrace generative AI technology to create new business opportunities and solve various challenges facing society.

“The changes currently being driven by generative AI are more of an opportunity than a crisis for all of us,” said SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang said during an opening speech of SK Tech Summit. “Through this event, visitors will be able to glimpse at the present and future of SK being created through AI."

More than 60 percent of the exhibits and presentations at the event were related to AI, demonstrating SK’s vision to bring innovation to its businesses through the technology. In addition to AI, SK Group affiliates exhibited 190 technologies in six other areas including augmented reality, virtual reality, big data, blockchain, cloud computing and ICT.

The group said it held the event to announce its growth strategy centered on the global AI ecosystem. The company brought together global partners such as Anthropic, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google, as well as domestic companies such as Sapeon, Konan Technology and Moloco.

The SK Telecom CEO, who also heads ICT Committee of SK Group's coordinating body SK Supex Council, said SK Group affiliates will work together to create synergies with big tech companies and Korean AI companies.

"SK will actively work to solve the various issues and challenges facing society through human-centered AI," he said. "I hope this event will be a time for us to exchange collective intelligence and dream of the future through true cooperation."

An SK Telecom employee promotes the company’s AI assistant app A. – pronounced as A dot – at its booth during SK Tech Summit at the COEX Convention Center in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul

At the event, SK Telecom was showcasing the features of its AI personal assistant service A. — pronounced as "A dot." SK Telecom launched the A. app for iOS devices last month, giving users new features such as call recording and call summary. A. has been a hit in the market, ranking first in downloads on Apple’s App Store.

Visitors to SK Telecom’s booth during the SK Tech Summit held at the COEX Convention Center in Seoul, take a look at the company’s AI-based robot control software Robo Picker, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul

SK Telecom also exhibited Robo Picker, an AI-based robot control software that enables objects to be picked up and moved.

"This software is applied to robot arms used in warehouses, helping robot arms automatically sort items. Currently, robot arms with this software applied are being used in the warehouses of major retailers in Korea, increasing the efficiency of work," an SK Telecom official said at the booth.