KT joins state project to build AI-driven 'dark factory' solutions

KT has announced its participation in a government-backed research project aimed at creating innovative solutions for dark factories. These state-of-the-art facilities are fully automated, unmanned plants that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) throughout the entire production process. The initiative is spearheaded by the Ministry of Science and ICT and seeks to establish a research and development ecosystem centered around a software platform that employs collaborative intelligence and physical AI.

The envisioned dark factory is set to be constructed near Jeonbuk Innovation City in North Jeolla Province.

In addition to KT, other key participants in the joint research project include the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, LG Energy Solution, Harim Foods, Shinsung E&G, and the Korea Productivity Center. KT's contribution to the project involves developing a system based on modular edge AI data center infrastructure.

These compact, distributed AI data centers are pre-assembled on factory floors and are designed to generate and verify Sim-Ready synthetic data, also known as digital data that can be utilized in virtual simulation environments. Moreover, KT aims to establish an integrated environment for operating AI agents as part of the project.

Through this collaborative effort, the research team hopes to address and resolve various errors within the dark factory framework, thereby paving the way for more efficient and reliable automated production systems.