{
  "id": 642107,
  "title": "Telecoms see AI businesses gain traction in Q2",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/telecoms-see-ai-businesses-gain-traction-in-q2",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-12T07:37:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/tech-science/20260812/telecoms-see-ai-businesses-gain-traction-in-q2"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Telecom companies are beginning to reap the benefits of their investments in artificial intelligence, according to recent data from the second quarter. While traditional telecom services have remained relatively static, AI-related ventures, particularly those focused on AI data centers and cloud services, have seen notable growth. SK Telecom, a leading player in the industry, experienced the most significant surge in its AI infrastructure business. Its second-quarter revenue increased by just 0.5% compared to the previous year, amounting to 4.3591 trillion won ($3.08 billion). However, the company's operating profit soared by an impressive 67.3% to 566 billion won, a trend partially attributed to the absence of one-off costs from last year's hacking incident.\n\nDespite the overall modest revenue growth, SK Telecom's AI data center business (AIDC) demonstrated remarkable expansion, surging 92.5% year-on-year to 136.2 billion won. This remarkable growth is primarily driven by the expansion of data center operations and the rising demand for high-performance computing infrastructure as the adoption of generative AI accelerates. To capitalize on this burgeoning market, SK Telecom established a new entity, SK Hyper, late last month to oversee the development and growth of its AIDC business. The company plans to invest a substantial 750 billion won through 2030 to build out an additional 5 gigawatts of AI infrastructure.",
  "summary": "Major telecom operators are seeing early results from their push into artificial intelligence (AI), with AI data centers (AIDC), cloud and AI transformation businesses posting growth in the second quarter even as traditional telecom operations remained largely stagnant. SK Telecom reported the sharpest growth in its AI infrastructure business. Its second-quarter revenue rose 0.5 percent…",
  "key_points": [
    "Telecoms see AI business growth in Q2",
    "SK Telecom's AI infrastructure revenue up 0.5% YoY",
    "AI data center business expands 92.5% YoY"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Telecom companies' AI ventures are driving growth, with SK Telecom's AI data center business surging 92.5% year-on-year, helping to boost operating profit and offset static traditional telecom services.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Telecoms see AI businesses gain traction in Q2",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/telecoms-see-ai-businesses-gain-traction-in-q2-643015",
        "published": "2026-08-12T07:47:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}