SK Telecom (SKT) announced a $10 million investment in generative AI search engine startup Perplexity AI.
The partnership strengthens SKT’s presence in AI generative search technology, an area that has attracted significant interest from major technology companies. This collaboration is expected to strengthen SKT’s “AI personal assistant” services.
Perplexity, a rapidly growing Google rival, has already established a formidable presence in the AI search sector.
Processing more than 230 million search requests per month worldwide, Perplexity has attracted notable investments from industry giants, including Nvidia and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. It was recently recognized as the best chatbot in terms of usability by the Wall Street Journal’s “The Great AI Chatbot Challenge.”
The partnership between SKT and Perplexity was first discussed at the MWC 2024 event in Barcelona, where they signed a strategic cooperation agreement. This new investment further strengthens their commitment to creating sustainable AI business synergies. Additionally, Perplexity agreed to invest in SKT’s Global AI Platform Corporation (GAP Co.), established in Silicon Valley last year to develop AI research services.
Perplexity’s AI search engine is built on a Large Language Model (LLM) and stands out for its conversational search capabilities, fast response times and precise sourcing of information. Unlike traditional keyword searches, it allows users to interact with AI as if they were conversing with a person, providing a variety of related results, including quotes, images and charts.
An example of its functionality can be seen by questioning the skills of footballers Ronaldo and Messi. The AI summarizes necessary information, such as team performance, awards and scores, providing a comprehensive answer that saves users from browsing multiple links.
Additionally, Perplexity claims to counter common “hallucinations” in generative AI by providing sources such as news articles, YouTube videos, and blog posts. The system also suggests follow-up questions for further exploration and offers quick translations and summaries of articles in English.
This partnership aims to integrate Perplexity’s generative AI search engine into SKT’s “A.” search engine. The AI personal assistant (“A dot”), enhancing its functionality with interactive queries, search result summaries, related search suggestions and translation services. SKT will bring Korean data and cultural content, helping to refine the LLM and advance research solutions for better performance in Korean language research.
Lee Jae-shin, Vice President of AI Growth Strategy of SKT, commented: “Through this investment cooperation with Perplexity, we have ensured global competitiveness in the AI search engine market .
“Based on the close cooperation between the two companies, we will strengthen A.’s research capabilities and plan to launch the highest-level AI personal assistant service at home and abroad.”
Dmitry Shevelenko, Chief Commercial Officer of Perplexity, added: “Both companies share the vision of providing best-in-class AI services that enrich our lives. We are excited about this partnership and happy to have the opportunity to provide Perplexity Pro services to SKT customers.
SKT plans to offer “Perplexity Pro” – a premium subscription search service, free to its customers for one year – supported by joint marketing efforts through its A. and T Universe channels. This partnership will position SKT as the only national telecommunications company to offer Perplexity’s services to local customers.
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