South Korea’s leading mobile operator SK Telecom (SKT) embarked on a fascinating project this week, announcing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mars Auto, an industry pioneer developing AI technology for self-driving trucks. The duo aspires to utilize SKT’s 5G capabilities and Mars Auto’s ‘Mars Pilot’ AI system in tandem to shape the future of autonomous trucking.
The innovative partnership plans to use the ‘Mars Pilot’ AI system to analyze real-time data from countless vehicle-mounted cameras, making autonomous driving decisions on the go. This technology is deemed especially crucial for larger vehicles like trucks, which have to account for longer braking distances and present a more challenging response time.
To bolster the AI’s decision-making process, the ‘Mars Pilot’ AI will be trained with over 100 million kilometers of road data accumulated by SKT, empowering the AI to make more nuanced determinations about external factors like traffic and weather conditions. Mars Auto CEO Park Il-soo highlighted the potential, saying, “we were able to acquire the infrastructure needed to maximize the potential of our AI software,” promising to deliver a “safer, more efficient driverless service.”
It’s noteworthy to mention that SKT isn’t new to the autonomous vehicles arena. Collaborating with the Korean Transportation Safety Authority since 2018, it has worked towards developing 5G-connected autonomous vehicles in K-City – a custom-built, self-driving smart city in Hwaseong. Additionally, SKT previously spearheaded various self-driving initiatives, including vehicle-to-everything (V2X) testing on a 32km section of road in Seoul.
To make further strides in the telecommunications domain, SKT has forged a new alliance with German operator Deutsche Telekom. The collaboration aims to codevelop a large language model for the telecoms industry, especially targeted at engineering the next generation of digital assistants. This joint venture is reported to be the inaugural project under the Global Telco AI Alliance, established by Deutsche Telekom, e&, Singtel, and SKT earlier this year.
This ambitious undertaking complements SKT’s whopping $100 million investment in the AI firm, Anthropic, positioning the telco as a forward-thinking player in the industry.
In conclusion, the partnership between SKT and Mars Auto, coupled with the alliance with Deutsche Telekom, indicates a promising future for telecommunications and AI; potentially revolutionizing autonomous vehicles, digital assistants, and more in the telecom sector. Though challenges may be present on the way, with powerful 5G capabilities, colossal data, and cutting-edge AI, a safer and more efficient autonomous future seems conceivable.
