SKT and Perplexity Join Forces to Revolutionize AI Search

SK Telecom (CEO Yoo Young-sang) and US-based AI unicorn Perplexity have announced a strategic partnership to lead the paradigm shift from traditional keyword search to conversational AI search.

Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SKT (left), and Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, shaking hands

Perplexity, a US-based AI startup founded in 2022 by Aravind Srinivas, an OpenAI alumnus, provides a conversational search engine service based on generative AI. The company has been recognized for its innovative technology, taking first place overall in the chatbot usability evaluation (The Great AI Chatbot Challenge) announced by the Wall Street Journal in May of this year.

Perplexity to Invest in SKT AI Subsidiary… SKT to Introduce Beta Version of ‘AI Agent’ to US Market

Following SKT’s $10 million investment in Perplexity last June, Perplexity is also planning to invest in SKT’s subsidiary ‘Global AI Platform Corporation (GAP Co.; Global AI Plat-form Co.)’ located in Silicon Valley.

The mutual investment between the two companies is also significant in that it encompasses not only AI business and services but also technological cooperation.

GAP Co. is focusing on the development and business promotion of global ‘AI Agents’ (hereinafter referred to as PAA; Personal AI Agents) in the global AI market.

SKT and GAP Co. are developing PAA with the goal of launching a beta version in the U.S. market within the year, and Perplexity is working with PAA as a search partner.

‘Adot’, which has surpassed 5 million subscribers, begins to monetize in earnest… Evolving into a true ‘personal assistant’ that performs tasks on its own without orders

As of the end of August, Adot surpassed 5 million subscribers. It has been steadily increasing from around 3.2 million at the end of last year, establishing itself as Korea’s leading AI personal assistant.

On August 26, SKT completely revamped Adot and installed Perplexity’s AI search engine along with the existing multi-LLMs such as ChatGPT, Claude, and AdotX, and the market response has been positive.

SKT has decided to jointly develop an AI search engine optimized for Korea with Perplexity to enhance the Adot service. SKT will provide Korean language data and cultural content, and Perplexity will be in charge of fine-tuning the search engine, and will work on enhancing the AI search service, with search optimized for the domestic Internet search environment and culture.

In addition, a promotion is being offered where all SKT customers can use the paid search service ‘Perplexity Pro’ (valued at approximately 290,000 won per year) provided by Perplexity on mobile or PC for free for one year.

According to the global market research firm Market and Market, the conversational AI market size is expected to continue to grow at an average annual growth rate of 24.9% until 2030. It is expected to grow from USD 13.2 billion (KRW 17.5 trillion) in 2024 to USD 49.9 billion (KRW 66 trillion) in 2030.

CEO Yoo Young-sang said, “As the recent rapid development of AI is shaking up the global search market landscape, the investment and service partnership with Perplexity is expected to greatly contribute to SKT’s securing leadership in the AI ecosystem by enhancing its AI search competitiveness.”