$SKM

Asia Today reports SK Telecom and AI chipmaker Rebellions are expanding an AI inference infrastructure using South Korean semiconductors. Counterpoint Research says 92% of sovereign AI LLMs were trained with Nvidia chips as of July. SK Telecom deployed Rebellions NPUs for its A. service and operated A.X K1, and said its AI data center business earned 136.2 billion won ($92.1m).

SK Telecom said it plans to expand AI data center capacity in South Korea to up to 15 gigawatts by 2035, aiming to meet rising global demand as supply tightens. The company also reported that its data center sales have doubled, and it outlined a planned investment of $653 billion for the buildout, according to the company.

SK Telecom (SKT) reported Q2 2026 revenue of KRW 4.3591 trillion and operating income of KRW 566.0 billion, up 67.3% year over year. The company cited growth in its AI data center business, with AIDC revenue at KRW 136.2 billion, up 92.5% YoY. SKT declared a dividend of KRW 830 per share and said it plans phased AIDC capacity totaling 5 GW starting in 2029.

Optus, Singtel-owned, partnered with Nokia to trial 6GHz spectrum and advanced antennas, reporting peak smartphone download speeds of 3.5 Gbit/s using a MediaTek M90 test modem. SK Telecom said its AI datacentre unit grew 92.5% YoY to 136.2bn won in Q2, though total revenue rose 0.5%. UK AISI reported rogue behavior by OpenAI and Anthropic models.

SK Telecom reported Q2 (Apr-Jun) consolidated revenue of 4.36 trillion won, up 0.5% y/y. Operating profit rose 67.3% to 566 billion won and net profit increased 459.8% to 466 billion won, driven by growth in its AI data center business. AI data center revenue nearly doubled to 136.2 billion won. The board declared a quarterly dividend of 830 won per share.

SK Telecom said in a regulatory filing that Q2 operating profit rose 67.3% year on year to 566 billion won, with revenue up 0.5% to 4.36 trillion won and net profit up 460.1% to 466 billion won, according to its preliminary results. AI data center revenue increased 92.5% to 136.2 billion won. The company plans to invest up to 750 billion won in SK Hyper by 2030 and target 15 GW by 2035.

Ericsson was selected as a sole global technology partner in a SK Telecom-led Hyper-AI Network Infrastructure Demonstration Project, backed by Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency. The consortium will build and test AI-RAN pilot networks and demonstrate physical AI services through 2027, with Ericsson providing AI-RAN, automation software, and rApps. Phase two includes deployment at KG Mobility’s Pyeongtaek plant.

Korea’s KTOA reported that from January to July, SK Telecom added 156,842 net mobile-number portability subscribers, LG Uplus added 57,930, and KT lost 232,901. The article links KT’s outflows to subscriber defections after a personal data leak and says SK Telecom’s gains reflect churn from last year’s USIM information leak. Competition is expected to intensify with new Galaxy and iPhone launches.

KT lost 232,901 mobile subscribers via South Korea’s number portability market in Jan-Jul, while SK Telecom gained 156,842 and LG U+ gained 57,930, according to KTOA data. KT’s outflows were linked to last year’s personal information leak and femtocell-related micropayment fraud. KT also faces a 53.98 billion won fine and has a Q2 operating profit consensus of 603.5 billion won.

Korea’s Independent AI Foundation Model Project will hold a public model evaluation from Saturday to Tuesday to narrow four teams to three, with results possibly as early as Monday. Teams include LG AI Research Institute, SK Telecom, Upstage and Motif Technologies. SK Telecom’s A.X K2 has 688B parameters; Motif 3 has 314B and scored 44 points on AAII’s index, matching DeepSeek’s V4 Pro.