World IT Show Spotlights AI-driven Innovation and Commercialization

The World IT Show 2026 opened April 22 at COEX in Seoul, bringing together 460 companies from 17 countries across 1,400 booths to showcase AI moving into real-world products and infrastructure. The Ministry of Science and ICT framed the event under the slogan "Beyond Imagination to Action: AI, Moving Reality." Major domestic players including SK Telecom, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, KT Corp., and Kakao Corp. presented technologies spanning consumer devices, network AI, data-center services, and robotics. The event highlighted commercial demos, a presidential award for Gaudio Lab's AI audio platform, and an active B2B marketplace where 50 overseas buyers held meetings with 190 Korean companies.

SK Telecom positioned itself as a full-stack AI provider in an 864 m2 pavilion organized across five themed zones, each mapping to a different layer of the AI value chain. Key items on display included:

• •Network AI: AI-RAN and agent-driven network functions that embed inference and policy optimization into the radio access layer.
• •AI DC Solutions: a sovereign GPU-as-a-Service named Haein, an AI data-center infrastructure manager, and an "AI Inference Factory" for deployment scaling.
• •AI Model: demonstrations of A.X and the 500B-class foundation model A.X K1, which has advanced to Phase 2 of Korea's Sovereign AI Foundation Model Project.
• •Agent AI: consumer and enterprise agents such as A.call, A.note, and A.auto that showcase conversation, summarization, and task automation integrated with carrier services.
• •Physical AI: digital-twin platforms and robot training pipelines that transfer policies learned in simulation into embodied systems.

The show crystallizes two concurrent trends practitioners should track. First, national-scale "sovereign AI" efforts are moving beyond policy into concrete infrastructure: a 500B-class domestic model plus GPUaaS reflects investment in model capacity and controlled supply chains. Second, telecom operators are evolving into AI infrastructure and services companies, bundling connectivity, GPU compute, model IP, and edge/agent applications. That combination lowers the integration barrier for industry adopters who need latency, data governance, and managed inference.

This edition of WIS frames Korea as a market where state-backed programs, carriers, and large electronics OEMs coordinate to commercialize AI across consumer devices and industrial systems. Samsung and LG emphasized spatial and home AI experiences, while KT highlighted Mideum K Pro and 27 technology showcases including 6G research and robot platforms. The awarding of the presidential prize to Gaudio Lab for its AI audio separation and subtitle generation demonstrates demand for focused ML products that solve vertical problems. For model engineers and infra teams, the presence of offerings like Haein and an AI Inference Factory signals increasing availability of sovereign, managed GPU resources and production tooling aligned with local compliance requirements.

Monitor commercial rollouts and partner programs from carriers that could provide turnkey model hosting, edge inference, and agent SDKs; watch A.X K1 benchmarks and licensing terms as Phase 2 progresses. Also watch matchmaking outcomes from the buyer meetings to gauge export traction for Korean AI products.