KT launches Token Factory for multi-model AI token billing

KT launched Token Factory on October 30, 2026, a platform that lets companies use multiple domestic and foreign AI models with integrated model selection, usage tracking, cost management and payment, according to digitaltoday.co.kr.

The platform is set to connect more than 500 AI models through a partnership with the global AI model distribution platform OpenRouter. KT said Token Factory uses an in-house "auto model router" that automatically selects models based on task type, difficulty, required quality and cost, combined with prompt compression technology.

At a press conference on October 27, the head of KT's AX business division said simple brokerage fees are not its main business model, adding that margin comes mainly from producing tokens directly with GPUs in KT data centers.

Rival carriers are pursuing related work. SK Telecom presented its Token Gateway as a new business area in its "SKT Growth Gear" strategy announced this month, planning to connect demand from AI services to its own models and data centers alongside its roughly 23 million customer base and its authentication, payment and billing capabilities. LG Uplus, meanwhile, said it is focusing on securing foundational technology to improve token processing efficiency.

Two LG Uplus AI token optimization research papers were accepted to workshops at the NeurIPS 2026 AI conference. The company applied model lightening and inference acceleration to a small language model, raising AI processing speed on smartphones by about 4.5 times and cutting battery consumption by about 77 percent.

KT's presentation, citing OpenRouter statistics, stated that AI token consumption on the platform grew about 35 times over the past year.