Anthropic, an AI startup co-founded by ex-OpenAI leaders, has secured $100 million from South Korean mobile carrier, SK Telecom (SKT). The investment is aimed at advancing AI developments specifically for global telecommunication firms.
SK Telecom's $100M investment in Anthropic
Anthropic, an AI startup established by former leaders of OpenAI, has caught the attention of SK Telecom, one of South Korea's largest mobile carriers. The telco giant announced its decision to back the startup with a hefty $100 million investment, highlighting its recognition of the potential of AI in the telecommunications sector.
Previous funding rounds and SKT's early involvement
This latest investment comes on the back of Anthropic's successful Series C funding round in May, which saw the startup raise a staggering $450 million, with Spark Capital leading the charge. Notably, SK Telecom was among the participants in this round, investing via its venture capital branch, SK Telecom Venture Capital.
SKT and Anthropic's plans for a multilingual LLM
With its strategic investment in Anthropic, SK Telecom is throwing its hat into the ring of the rapidly heating generative AI race. The telco company and the AI startup plan to leverage their joint resources to develop a multilingual large language model (LLM) – a tool tailored specifically for the needs of global telecommunication firms.
The jointly developed LLM by SKT and Anthropic is poised to benefit members of the Global Telco AI Alliance, including major players like Deutsche Telekom, e& and Singtel. This will enable these companies to provide AI solutions that are customized to the needs of their respective user bases in different markets.
Introducing Claude, Anthropic's AI system
Anthropic, launched just this year, is working on an AI system named Claude. Similar to OpenAI's Chat GPT, Claude is designed to simplify corporate tasks such as searching, providing answers, automating workflows, coding, and processing text in natural conversations, effectively becoming a game-changer for many businesses.
According to SK Telecom, Claude's potential uses for the telecommunications industry are extensive. The AI system is expected to revolutionize industry-specific customer service, marketing, sales, and interactive consumer applications, proving the versatility of AI in this sector.
