SK Telecom is providing its proprietary AI model-based API to support the development and validation of AI services by domestic startups. This initiative aims to expand the use of its unique AI foundation model (Dopamo) as part of a government-led startup support program.
On July 26, SK Telecom announced its participation in the '2026 Everyone's Challenge AX-LLM,' organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. This program is designed to assist domestic startups in adopting and utilizing domestic AI models through necessary technical collaboration.
SK Telecom is participating in this initiative to accumulate use cases for its A.X K1 model, which was developed by the end of last year, through the Dopamo. The goal is to broaden the application of its proprietary model within the startup and developer ecosystem.
Seven demand companies with their own large language models (LLMs) are involved in this initiative: SK Telecom, Upstage, LG AI Research, NC AI, KT, Naver Cloud, and Oracle. Startups can choose one of these demand companies to submit their business plans, after which the demand companies will select partners for collaboration.
SK Telecom received the most collaboration requests from startups among the demand companies. After a review involving external experts, three companies—Team Limited, Pursely, and Devol Company—were selected for final collaboration.
Team Limited offers a personalized shopping curation agent based on a receipt platform. Pursely provides AI-based influencer marketing and promotion automation solutions, while Devol Company offers AI solutions for managing overdue debts.
SK Telecom plans to provide the A.X K1 API to these three companies by the end of this year. The initiative will also be linked to the startup acceleration program 'SKTCH with AI' to support service enhancement and business validation.
During the collaboration period, each startup will develop and validate AI services that can be utilized at customer touchpoints. They will transition their services to be based on the A.X K1 model and prepare for proof of concept (PoC) for future business collaboration with SK Telecom.
Um Jong-hwan, head of SK Telecom's Sustainable Management Office, stated, 'Through collaboration with startups, we aim to expand the application of SK Telecom's proprietary AI model and contribute to the activation of the domestic AI ecosystem.'
* This article has been translated by AI.
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