SK Telecom is expanding its digital twin capabilities from smart manufacturing into robotics, stepping up efforts to establish global technology standards for the emerging field of Physical AI.
SK Telecom (CEO Jeong Jae-heon) said on July 23 that a new standardization project proposed by the company was adopted at an International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, from July 14 to 22.
The project focuses on the architecture and interoperability of a “Robot Data Factory” (RDF), a framework designed to systematically produce, manage and utilize the large-scale datasets required to train intelligent robots, including humanoids.
As robots become increasingly capable of performing complex tasks such as grasping and moving objects and using tools, demand is growing for large volumes of high-quality motion data. However, data collection and management methods currently vary widely depending on robot models, platforms and software, making it difficult to share and reuse data across different systems.
SK Telecom’s proposed RDF framework aims to address this challenge by establishing a standardized structure for producing and exchanging robot learning data.
The proposed RDF architecture consists of five layers: service, robot model and data, infrastructure, device, and management. SK Telecom plans to define the roles of each layer and establish interoperability specifications that will allow different robots and platforms to connect, replace and expand functions more easily.
The project was submitted to Study Group 11 (SG11) under the ITU-T and was adopted as a new standardization item following discussions and reviews by ITU-T members.
Industry observers say the move could have broader implications as the robotics industry shifts from hardware-centric competition toward AI-driven intelligence. As the ability to collect, manage and utilize high-quality training data becomes increasingly critical to robot performance, standardized data infrastructure is expected to play an important role in building a scalable robotics ecosystem.
The development of interoperable standards could also help different robots and AI platforms share data more efficiently, potentially accelerating collaboration among robotics companies, AI developers and research institutions around the world.
SK Telecom has been building and advancing digital twin platforms for smart manufacturing in cooperation with SK hynix. The company is now leveraging that expertise to develop a robotics learning platform capable of generating robot task data and using it to train AI models.
By replicating real-world manufacturing environments and processes in virtual spaces, digital twin technology can help generate data for robot learning while reducing the time and cost required to collect data in physical environments. The approach is expected to improve the efficiency of training AI models for robots performing complex tasks.
SK Telecom plans to use the newly adopted standardization project to enhance the usability of its digital twin-based robot learning platform, which is scheduled for launch in the second half of the year.
The company also plans to expand collaboration with domestic and international robotics and AI companies, as well as research institutions, with the goal of helping build a broader robot data ecosystem.
The move highlights SK Telecom’s strategy to expand beyond traditional telecommunications into Physical AI by combining its capabilities in artificial intelligence, data and digital twins. Industry analysts say participation in international standardization efforts could give the company an opportunity to strengthen its technological influence and establish an early position in the rapidly evolving robotics ecosystem.
“By having this new standardization project adopted, SK Telecom has laid the foundation to lead international discussions on standards by leveraging its digital twin and AI capabilities in the Physical AI field,” said Choi Dong-hee, head of AI Strategy Planning at SK Telecom. “We will continue to lead international standardization efforts in robotics based on our technological capabilities spanning robot learning platforms and AI models.”
