Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- KT, South Korea's largest telecom company, has revealed its four-year plan to strengthen its artificial intelligence technology development capability to secure the manpower and core technologies of the future growth engine.

"AI is like the calling of the times. KT's goal is to have AI in places where customers want," KT's marketing division vice president Lee Pil-jae said during a press conference held in central Seoul on Wednesday. Lee said that KT will to prepare for the ear of AI by converging 5G, internet of things, big data and cloud.

According to KT, 300 billion won ($256 million) will be invested into sectors related to artificial intelligence (AI) for four years starting next year to accelerate the development of AI technologies and to nurture 1,000 AI specialists. KT said that it aims to create new values based on AI and 5G mobile communication.

KT revealed plans to utilize its own AI technologies such as AI voice assistant speakers and AI-based energy management platform "K-MEG" in various fields to create new business opportunities such as AI-based telephone customer service centers and security service using AI technologies to detect intruders.

By 2025, KT plans to increase the number of AI-based devices to some 100 million to create an AI ecosystem that covers the world's homes and workplaces to help people live more convenient lives.