SK Telecom Collaborates With AI Perplexity Startup, Brings Up Google Alternatives

Perplexity AI uses a generating AI model to answer user questions (photo: x @perplexity_ai ·)

JAKARTA - SK Telecom, South Korea's largest telecommunications service provider, partnered with the United States artificial intelligence startup (AI), Perplexity, to offer artificial intelligence-based search engines to its users as an alternative to Google and Naver.

The company stated that this collaboration will allow SK Telecom customers to use the paid version of Perplexity for free, and for SK Telecom to access Perplexity exclusive models to build personal AI assistant products with access to real-time information.

The details of the partnership, including the launch time of the Pro Perplexity version to SKT users, still need to be regulated, said the SKT investment team in an interview. This partnership can develop financially because SK Telecom does not rule out investing or forming a joint venture with Perplexity.

"This is a mutually beneficial situation because SK Telecom gives its customers added value and we get access to their customers through their distribution channels," said Perplexity CEO Arevind Srinivas in an interview.

As a challenge for Google's search, Perplexity AI uses a generative AI model to answer user questions while providing sources of information. Last month, Perplexity raised 73.6 million US dollars (IDR 1.15 trillion) from investors including Nvidia and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The round is led by venture capital firm IVP and assesses the company as around $520 million.

According to Similarweb data, San Francisco-based Perplexity, California, experienced 45.6 million visits to mobile websites and websites in December. Perplexity offers free versions as well as paid versions that charge users $20 per month for an unlimited search.

SK Telecom has teamed up with Silicon Valley startups to access future technologies and explore the use of generative AI. Last year, the company announced an investment of US$100 million (Ro1.5 trillion) in US AI model maker Anthropic to jointly develop a large language model for the telecommunications industry.