SK Telecom invests $100M towards emissions-free air taxis

SKT CEO Yoo Young-sang, left, and Joby Aviation's CEO JoeBen Bevirt pose for the photo after a meeting at CES 2023 tech fair held at Las Vegas in January. [SKT]

SK Telecom will invest $100 million in Joby Aviation, bringing Korea a step closer to developing emissions-free air taxis.

The telecom carrier secured a 2 percent stake in the Santa Cruz, California-based transportation company through the investment, the company announced at the electronics disclosure Thursday.

Joby Aviation, founded in 2009, is developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft intended to be used as air taxis.

SKT now has the sole license to use the eVTOL aircraft as air taxis. Urban air mobility (UAM) service is expected to be globally commercialized in 2025.

The telecom operator will also use Joby Aviation’s aircraft to participate in the Korean UAM (K-UAM) roadmap organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

SKT will also integrate its technology on artificial intelligence (AI) into UAM’s air correspondence, traffic control and linking the system between air and land traffic.

The two companies’ internal boards will also host regular meetings to strengthen the partnership and enhance their competitiveness in the global UAM market.

“With Joby Aviation, we will do our best to commercialize the world’s top UAM service in Korea,” said SKT CEO Yoo Young-sang. “UAM will drastically reduce people’s travel times and contribute to Korea’s step forward into becoming a mobility powerhouse.”

SKT initially formed a partnership with Joby Aviation in February 2022 to develop the UAM service. Yoo formed a task force team for UAM at the end of 2021, setting his eyes on the business as a new growth engine for the telecom operator.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]