SK Telecom partners with AI search startup Perplexity in Korea

FILE PHOTO: The logo of SK Telecom is pictured at the GSMA's 2023 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo

(Reuters) - SK Telecom, South Korea's largest telco, is partnering with U.S. AI startup Perplexity to offer the artificial intelligence-based search engine to its users as an alternative to Google and Naver, the companies told Reuters.

The partnership would allow SK Telecom's subscribers to use the paid version of Perplexity for free, and for SK Telecom to access Perplexity's proprietary models to build personal AI assistant products with access to real-time information, the companies said.