SK Telecom builds AI factory software with Nvidia

South Korea’s SK Telecom is building physical AI software for manufacturers around digital twins and robot training to test processes in virtual factory models before real-world deployment.

The company said the digital twin platform runs on Nvidia Omniverse while the robot training platform uses Nvidia Cosmos and Isaac GR00T.

SK Telecom is piloting the tools with SK Group manufacturers and external customers, with demand centered on semiconductor, automotive, and shipbuilding plants.

It plans to sell the software through a subscription model with modular features.

🔗 Source: The Chosun Daily

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

SK Telecom turns to AI as pressure mounts

SK Telecom’s move into manufacturing AI comes after a severe financial hit.
In fiscal year 2025, revenue dropped 4.7% and net income sank 73% after a cybersecurity incident exposed sensitive SIM-related data for about 26.9 million to 27 million mobile subscribers, nearly its full subscriber base at the time. The breach also led to remediation and restructuring costs 1.
The company called the situation a “looming crisis” and said it could “fall behind and perish” without adjusting to the AI era 2.
The software effort sits inside a dedicated AI “company in company” (CIC), an internally separate business unit. SK Telecom aims for annual revenue above 5 trillion won (US$3.55 billion) by 2030 and plans to invest 5 trillion won (US$3.55 billion) over five years 3.

Telcos are taking on a bigger AI infrastructure role

SK Telecom’s plan shows how telecommunications companies are moving beyond network service into building national AI capacity 4.
It is using its infrastructure base and government ties to develop sovereign AI capabilities, which are domestically controlled national AI systems and computing capacity, for South Korea 4.
The software project is part of a wider buildout. SK Telecom said it has started its first 1 gigawatt AI data center (AIDC) in Ulsan, an industrial city in southeastern South Korea, and plans more 1 gigawatt AI data centers nationwide 2.
Through a “Manufacturing AI Cloud” with Nvidia and SK Group, the company is laying out a model for telecom operators that tie AI tools to industrial growth and the wider economy 4.