SK Telecom taps Korean mathematicians to sharpen A.X K2 reasoning

SK Telecom said on October 22, 2026, that it is partnering with South Korean mathematics and AI researchers to strengthen the mathematical reasoning capabilities of its in-house foundation model, A.X K2.

Researchers joining the project include Seo In-seok of Seoul National University's Department of Mathematical Sciences, Lee Jun-kyung of KIAS's Division of Computational Science, and Kim Sang-hyun of KIAS's School of Mathematics. AI methodology collaborators include Seoul National University professors Hong Young-jun, Lee Da-bin, Oh Byung-kwon and Byun Sung-soo, and KAIST professor Park No-sung.

SK Telecom said it will apply the reasoning capabilities gained from the work to advancing agentic AI, and plans to extend the effort to recursive self-improvement (RSI) research. Kim Tae-yoon, who heads the company's foundation model work, said SK Telecom is pursuing industry-academia cooperation in mathematics to raise the model's real-world problem-solving ability.

According to aitimes.com, the announcement comes as AI companies put growing emphasis on mathematical reasoning as a benchmark for model capability. OpenAI previously drew attention by solving more than 300 unsolved mathematics problems, including in algebraic geometry and differential equations.