SK Telecom Unveils A.X K1, Korea's First 500B-Scale Hyperscale AI Model

Rhea-AI Summary

SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) unveiled A.X K1, a 519 billion-parameter hyperscale AI foundation model on December 27, 2025, developed by an eight-member SKT consortium.

A.X K1 is described as a 500B-scale "Teacher Model" intended to transfer knowledge to smaller models (below 70B) and to serve as national AI infrastructure, with planned open-source release, APIs, and partial training-data disclosure. The consortium plans to deliver A.X K1 via existing services (A-DoT: 10M+ subscribers; broader 20M-user service foundation) and to validate Korea's semiconductor and AIDC capabilities; more than 20 institutions submitted letters of intent to participate.

Positive

• 519B-parameter hyperscale model announced (A.X K1)
• Open-source release and API access planned for Korean AI ecosystem
• 20 million-user service foundation across A-DoT and partner platforms

Negative

• Memory bandwidth and inter-GPU communication cited as key bottlenecks for 500B+ workloads

News Market Reaction

+0.73%

1 alert

+0.73% News Effect

On the day this news was published, SKM gained 0.73%, reflecting a mild positive market reaction.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Model size: 519 billion parameters Teacher model range: Up to 500B+ parameters Smaller model threshold: 70B parameters +5 more

8 metrics

Model size 519 billion parameters A.X K1 hyperscale AI model

Teacher model range Up to 500B+ parameters Designed as teacher for sub-70B models

Smaller model threshold 70B parameters Target size for smaller and specialized models

A. (A-DoT) users Over 10 million subscribers Nationwide AI accessibility via SK Telecom service

Liner users More than 11 million subscribers Expert knowledge search service user base

Participating institutions More than 20 institutions Letters of intent to utilize and validate A.X K1

Consolidated revenue W8,792,477 million Six months ended June 30, 2025 (Form 6-K)

Total assets W29,304,310 million After consolidation, as reported in 6-K through June 30, 2025

Market Reality Check

Price: $27.37 Vol: Volume 425,868 versus 20-...

low vol

$27.37 Last Close

Volume Volume 425,868 versus 20-day average 670,101 indicates lighter-than-normal trading ahead of this AI announcement. low

Technical Shares at $20.51 are trading below the 200-day MA of $21.42 and 13.82% under the 52-week high of $23.80.

Peers on Argus

Peers show mixed, mostly modest moves, with changes ranging from about -0.48% to...

Peers show mixed, mostly modest moves, with changes ranging from about -0.48% to 1.26%, suggesting this AI news is more company-specific than sector-driven.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement highlights SK Telecom’s push into large-scale AI with its 519B-parameter A.X K1 mo...

Analysis

This announcement highlights SK Telecom’s push into large-scale AI with its 519B-parameter A.X K1 model, designed as a “teacher” for smaller systems and tied into services reaching over 10 million users. The consortium structure and plans to open-source access and APIs position A.X K1 as national AI infrastructure. Investors may watch for concrete revenue contributions, adoption across the 20+ institutions expressing interest, and how this AI strategy interacts with broader telecom operations.

Key Terms

hyperscale, sovereign AI, teacher model, multilingual, +4 more

8 terms

hyperscale technical

"today unveiled 'A.X K1,' Korea's first hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) model"

Hyperscale describes the ability of a system or operation to grow rapidly and handle extremely large amounts of work or data. It’s like a massive factory that can quickly expand its production capacity to meet soaring demand. For investors, hyperscale indicates a business’s potential to scale efficiently, often leading to increased growth and profitability.

sovereign AI technical

"conducts Korean government's 'Sovereign AI Foundation Model' project with A.X K1"

An AI system described as "sovereign" is built, hosted, or operated under a country’s legal and technical control so that data, code, and decision-making stay within that jurisdiction. For investors, sovereign AI matters because it affects which vendors can sell to governments or regulated industries, imposes compliance and infrastructure costs, and can create protected local markets—similar to a factory that must follow a nation’s building codes and can only sell to certain buyers.

teacher model technical

"A.X K1 functions as a 'Teacher Model' — a provider of knowledge"

A teacher model is a large, well-trained artificial intelligence model used as a reference to train or improve a smaller model by example, like an experienced teacher showing an apprentice how to solve problems. Investors care because the quality, size and licensing of the teacher model influence product accuracy, development cost, regulatory risk and time-to-market: a better teacher can speed development and reduce errors, while an expensive or restricted one can raise costs and legal exposure.

multilingual technical

"more stable performance in complex mathematical reasoning and multilingual understanding"

Multilingual describes the ability of a company, product, document or communication system to use more than one language. For investors it matters because multilingual capabilities expand potential customers and markets, help meet regulatory and disclosure requirements in different regions, and reduce the risk of costly misunderstandings — like a store putting up signs in several languages so more people can find and use it safely and confidently.

AI semiconductors technical

"entire value chain, including AI semiconductors, AI data centers (AIDCs), AI models"

AI semiconductors are computer chips designed specifically to run artificial intelligence tasks like recognizing images, understanding speech, or making predictions; they include specialized processors that handle the heavy math and data movement AI needs more efficiently than ordinary chips. Investors care because these chips often determine which companies can deliver faster, cheaper or more powerful AI services — like choosing a faster engine for a car — and they drive demand, margins and competitive advantage across tech, cloud services and hardware makers.

AI data centers (AIDCs) technical

"including AI semiconductors, AI data centers (AIDCs), AI models and AI services"

AI data centers (AIDCs) are specialized facilities that house the powerful computers, networking and cooling systems needed to train and run large artificial‑intelligence models — think of them as factories built specifically to create and operate AI services. They matter to investors because they require large upfront spending, consume significant energy, and can drive recurring revenue through cloud AI services or hosting contracts; location, capacity and efficiency affect costs, margins and growth potential.

open-source technical

"The consortium plans to release A.X K1 as open-source to companies"

Open-source describes software, tools, or designs whose underlying code or blueprint is made publicly available so anyone can inspect, modify, and share it. For investors it matters because open-source can accelerate innovation and lower costs by tapping a community of contributors—like a shared recipe improving over time—but it also changes how a company earns money, creates potential licensing or support risks, and affects competitive advantage and security through transparency.

APIs technical

"provide open-source access and APIs to foster an environment for seamless AI agent development"

APIs are sets of rules that let different software systems talk to each other, like standardized doorways that let apps, data services and websites exchange information without needing to be rebuilt each time. For investors, APIs matter because they speed product development, enable digital partnerships and data feeds, create new revenue or cost savings, and introduce operational or security dependencies that can affect growth and risk.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

• SKT consortium conducts Korean government's 'Sovereign AI Foundation Model' project with A.X K1, positioning Korea for Global Top 3 AI Powers
• A.X K1: Korea's first 'Teacher Model' for smaller and specialized applications
• SK Telecom realizes AI as public good, advancing Korean government's 'AI for Everyone' with 20 million-user service foundation
• SKT consortium's full-stack AI ecosystem positioned to serve as national AI infrastructure

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) today unveiled 'A.X K1,' Korea's first hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) model with 519 billion (519B) parameters.

A.X K1 (519B-A33B) is poised to serve as the core foundation for Korea's ambition to become a top-three global player in the AI race, following the U.S. and China. The model marks the beginning of a full-stack AI ecosystem, encompassing all areas from semiconductors to services.

500B-Scale to Power Korea's AI Ecosystem as a 'Teacher Model'

A.X K1, Korea's first hyperscale AI model, represents a significant milestone in enhancing the global competitiveness of Korean AI within a landscape currently dominated by the U.S. and China.

Unlike knowledge-consuming AI models, A.X K1 functions as a 'Teacher Model' — a provider of knowledge — enabling knowledge transfer to smaller models, particularly those below the 70B-scale. It also serves as foundational digital social overhead capital (SOC) for the AI ecosystem. The SKT consortium will expand research to enable A.X K1 to transfer knowledge to smaller and specialized models, driving innovation for Korea.

At scales above 500 billion parameters, AI models demonstrate more stable performance in complex mathematical reasoning and multilingual understanding, according to global cases. These enhanced capabilities enable advanced tasks such as high-complexity coding and agent-based execution.

Promotes AI as Public Good, Advancing 'AI for Everyone' Through Services Already in Active Nationwide Use

The SKT consortium plans to strengthen nationwide AI accessibility by offering A.X K1 through A. (A-DoT), which has over 10 million subscribers. The consortium aims to build an 'AI for Everyone' framework, enabling the public to easily access AI via phone calls, text messages, the web and applications.

Liner, a member of the SKT consortium, operates expert knowledge search services for more than 11 million global subscribers. Expectations are high that it will provide highly accurate and reliable search services in multiple languages with A.X K1.

A.X K1 is also expected to boost industrial competitiveness through AIX — including solutions such as A. Biz for manufacturing, real-time character dialogue and autonomous behavior in Krafton's games, and humanoid AI robots.

Additionally, A.X K1 will serve as a testbed to validate the competitiveness of Korea's semiconductor industry. An AI model capable of operating at a non-standard scale of workload (500B or more) is indispensable for practically verifying memory bandwidth and inter-GPU communication speed, which are key performance bottlenecks in high-performance AI semiconductors.

Building a Full-Stack AI to Advance Korea's Global Top-Three AI Strategy

The SKT consortium's business strategy, including SK Telecom's 500B-scale AI model, aligns with Korea's national goal of becoming one of the world's top three AI nations.

In this global race, success depends not only in the performance of individual models but also on a nation's ability to scale and operate AI at a national level.

The SK Telecom-led SKT consortium includes eight organizations: SK Telecom, Krafton, 42dot, Rebellions, Liner, SelectStar, Seoul National University, and KAIST. Together, they have built a full-stack sovereign AI platform based entirely on proprietary technologies across the entire value chain, including AI semiconductors, AI data centers (AIDCs), AI models and AI services.

Building on LLM development efforts since 2018, each consortium member contributed specialized expertise: Liner enhanced accuracy through expert-level information retrieval technology; SelectStar ensured reliability through large-scale data construction and validation; Krafton provided scalability from global multimodal R&D experience; 42dot strengthened versatility through its on-device AI technology; and Rebellions improved efficiency with domestically developed NPU technology.

Already, more than 20 institutions, including major affiliates such as SK hynix, SK Innovation, SK Broadband, the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies and the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies, have submitted letters of intent to participate. These institutions have agreed to utilize and validate A.X K1 together in real-world field settings.

The consortium plans to release A.X K1 as open-source to companies across Korea's AI ecosystem. Through major developer communities and SK Telecom platforms, the consortium will provide open-source access and APIs to foster an environment for seamless AI agent development.

Additionally, the consortium will establish an integrated support framework for AI model development and disclose portions of the training data used for model development through public and private platforms, boosting Korea's overall AI competitiveness.

"This marks a new inflection point in Korea's journey toward becoming one of the world's top three AI nations amid intensifying global competition," said Kim Tae-yoon, Head of Foundation Model Office at SK Telecom. "As Korea's leading AI company, we will continue driving our efforts to deliver AI for Everyone."

About SK Telecom

SK Telecom has been leading the growth of the mobile industry since 1984. Now, it is taking customer experience to new heights by extending beyond connectivity. By placing AI at the core of its business, SK Telecom is rapidly transforming into an AI company with a strong global presence. It is focusing on driving innovations in areas of AI Infrastructure, AI Transformation (AIX) and AI Service to deliver greater value for industry, society, and life.

For more information, please visit our LinkedIn page www.linkedin.com/company/sk-telecom.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sk-telecom-unveils-ax-k1-koreas-first-500b-scale-hyperscale-ai-model-302649835.html

SOURCE SK Telecom

FAQ

What is A.X K1 announced by SK Telecom (SKM) on December 27, 2025?

A.X K1 is a 519 billion-parameter hyperscale foundation model described as a "Teacher Model" for knowledge transfer to smaller models.

How will SK Telecom distribute A.X K1 to users and developers (SKM)?

The consortium plans an open-source release, API access, and distribution via A. (A-DoT) and developer communities.

What scale of models can A.X K1 transfer knowledge to, according to SK Telecom (SKM)?

A.X K1 is intended to transfer knowledge to smaller and specialized models, particularly those below 70B parameters.

Does A.X K1 have support from other organizations for validation (SKM)?

More than 20 institutions, including SK affiliates and research institutes, submitted letters of intent to participate and validate A.X K1.

What infrastructure challenges does SK Telecom (SKM) identify for running 500B-scale models?

SK Telecom cites memory bandwidth and inter-GPU communication speed as key performance bottlenecks for 500B+ workloads.

How does SK Telecom (SKM) intend A.X K1 to affect Korea’s AI strategy?

The consortium positions A.X K1 as core infrastructure to help advance Korea toward a top-three global AI role by enabling national-scale model development and services.