$SKM

Anthropic, an AI firm, filed for an IPO potentially raising $100bn at a $2tn valuation, reporting $16.3bn revenue and $80bn losses. SK Telecom (SKT) could see its investment surge 25x. Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) launched 2Gbit/s broadband in the UK. AT&T expanded its healthcare IoT partnership with Smart Meter. Deutsche Telekom invested in Tandem Health, an AI healthcare firm.

Anthropic, an AI company, filed for a Nasdaq IPO under the ticker ANT, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley leading the offering. SK Telecom, Samsung Electronics, and SK hynix are among the Korean investors with significant stakes, with SK Telecom's stake valued at $2.65B. The IPO's valuation and raise targets are unconfirmed.

SK Hyper Co, a data center arm of SK Group, is seeking funding for a $350 billion AI infrastructure project in South Korea by 2035, aiming to build 15 gigawatts of capacity. The company is in talks with tech firms and investors, with initial capital expected by late 2024 or early 2027. SK Telecom plans to invest $567 million in SK Hyper by 2030, and the project includes partnerships with Amazon Web Services.

SK Telecom and the Financial Supervisory Service will expand cooperation to improve voice phishing detection. They plan to use financial institution data to reduce false blocks and enhance detection accuracy. SK Telecom blocked 1.3 million voice spam calls last year. They will also conduct customer education and prevention activities.

The global NPU (neural processing unit) market is projected to grow from $5.99B in 2023 to $56.08B by 2032, driven by demand for low-power AI semiconductors. Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom are investing in NPU companies like DeepX and Revelion. DeepX secured $13M in orders and plans to use new funding for R&D and expansion. Revelion is integrated into SKT's AI services, handling 14M daily AI traffic. Puriosa AI and Mobileint are also advancing NPU applications in various sectors.

Nomura, a Japanese investment bank, named Samsung SDS its top pick, citing opportunities in Korea's AI data center market. The bank set a target price of 250,000 won for Samsung SDS, highlighting demand from affiliates and financial flexibility. KT's investment opinion was upgraded to buy with a target price of 63,000 won. Naver and SK Telecom were kept neutral with lowered target prices, pending clearer customer contracts.

South Korean stocks rose 1.83% at open, led by tech gains, despite Wall Street losses and AI spending concerns. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix climbed 3.02% and 2.36%, respectively. The Korean won strengthened slightly against the US dollar.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) partnered with F5 to launch the Indosat Intelligence Suite, a platform to simplify AI adoption for enterprises. SK Telecom announced a strategy to become a gateway for the token economy. The Broadband Forum identified challenges in deploying autonomous networks. Amazon Leo built over 1,000 satellites for its broadband services.

SK Telecom, excluded from a government AI project, forms a consultative body with 11 organizations to develop and commercialize its own security AI models, AIDATXK and Solar, using real-world security data. The group aims to enhance AI capabilities for tasks like vulnerability analysis and attack response, with universities validating the technology. SK Telecom plans to apply the AI to its security products and services, and the group may collaborate on future government projects.

SK Telecom and AI firm Upstage created a consortium with six cybersecurity firms and three universities to develop AI models for cybersecurity. The group will use shared data to train SKT's A.X K and Upstage's Solar AI models, aiming for commercial applications.