How SK Telecom is Turning AI Into National Infrastructure for Korea?

The global AI race is increasingly defined by scale, infrastructure and national strategy. With the unveiling of A.X K1, a 519-billion-parameter hyperscale AI model, SK Telecom Co. SKM has signaled Korea’s intent to compete at the highest level of the global AI race. A.X K1 is Korea’s first model to cross the 500B-parameter threshold, an inflection point globally associated with breakthroughs in reasoning, multilingual intelligence and agent-based execution. Also, SKM and its consortium are framing this model not as a consumer chatbot, but as a national AI infrastructure.

In contrast to conventional large language models designed primarily for end-user interaction, A.X K1 is positioned as a “Teacher Model.” Its primary role is to transfer knowledge to smaller, more specialized models, particularly those under the 70B-parameter scale. By treating A.X K1 as digital social overhead capital (SOC), SK Telecom is effectively building a shared national AI infrastructure, fueling the next generation innovation for Korea.

A defining feature of SK Telecom’s vision is accessibility. A.X K1 will be integrated into A. (A-DoT), SKM’s AI service platform with more than 10 million subscribers. This allows nationwide access through phone calls, text messaging, web interfaces and mobile applications. By embedding hyperscale AI into everyday communication channels, the company is lowering the barrier to AI adoption and positioning AI as a public utility.

Running a 500B-scale model pushes systems to their limits, testing memory bandwidth, GPU-to-GPU communication and energy efficiency. A.X K1 provides a real-world proving ground for Korea’s AI chips, including NPUs developed by Rebellions. This integration of AI models and domestic hardware strengthens Korea’s position in a strategically critical sector.

SKM’s AI-Powered Innovation Portfolio Shows Growing Traction

SK Telecom strides toward strengthening its foothold in the AI infrastructure landscape. As industries increasingly rely on AI to stay competitive, SKM’s cutting-edge solutions empower them to remain at the top of the game. 

It is rapidly transforming into a comprehensive artificial intelligence data center (AIDC) developer with global ambitions, aiming to position South Korea as Asia’s leading AI hub. The company is expanding its Ulsan AIDC to a massive 1-GW scale while securing additional AIDC hubs in the Seoul metropolitan, southern and southwestern regions through strategic partnerships, including a 2025 MoU.

SK Telecom plans to replicate this model domestically and internationally, attracting global capital and entering Southeast Asia with energy-optimized AIDCs, such as an LNG-powered facility in Vietnam. Collaborations with AWS and NVIDIA are accelerating innovations in Edge AI, AI-RAN and a Manufacturing AI Cloud powered by NVIDIA GPUs, supporting advanced use cases like digital twins and robotics.

By commercializing end-to-end AIDC solution packages covering design, construction, operations and energy efficiency, SKM is laying the groundwork to strengthen national AI infrastructure and drive Korea toward global top-tier AI competitiveness.

SKM’s Zacks Rank & Stock Price Performance

SK Telecom currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of the company have fallen 3% in the past year against the sub-industry's growth of 39.1%.

Key Picks From the Computer and Technology Space

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are Ubiquiti Inc. UI, Ericsson ERIC and Clearfield, Inc. CLFD. UI sports a Zacks Rank #1, while ERIC and CLFD carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

UI’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 54.15%. In the last reported quarter, Ubiquiti delivered an earnings surprise of 39.52%. Its shares have surged 44.9% in the past six months.

Ericsson earnings beat the consensus estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing in one, with the average surprise being 13.51%. Ericsson’s long-term earnings growth rate is 8.4%. Its shares have gained 18.5% in the past year.

Clearfield’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 92.47%. In the last reported quarter, CLFD delivered an earnings surprise of 44.44%. Its shares have lost 5.4% in the past year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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