SK Telecom Co. is investing $3 million in Twelve Labs Inc., bolstering its artificial intelligence capabilities as South Korea’s largest mobile carrier pushes deeper into AI services.
The partnership aims to enhance SK Telecom’s AI butler service by incorporating Twelve Labs’ video analysis technology. The San Francisco-based startup, which has already secured backing from Nvidia Corp., specializes in AI-powered video understanding and search capabilities.
Twelve Labs’ technology allows for quick analysis of video content, including surveillance footage, by processing multiple data types like images, text, and audio. The company’s platform leverages Nvidia’s H100 Tensor Core GPUs and L40S GPUs to power its video processing capabilities.
The investment follows Twelve Labs’ $50 million Series A funding round in June, led by Nvidia’s venture arm NVentures and New Enterprise Associates. The startup previously raised $10 million in pre-Series A funding last October, marking Nvidia’s first investment in a Korean generative AI company.
As part of the deal, Twelve Labs will join the K-AI Alliance, a consortium of Korean companies focused on developing AI technology. The two companies plan to collaborate on security and public safety applications, including AI-powered surveillance systems that can rapidly search and summarize key incidents.
SK Telecom executives said the partnership would strengthen the company’s position in multimodal AI, while Twelve Labs’ CEO highlighted the potential to expand their video foundation models across various industries.
