SK Telecom (SKT) announced that it has secured a project under Horizon Europe, the European Union’s research funding program, to develop quantum cryptography technology. The project is a multinational collaboration involving institutions from three European countries and is scheduled to run over three years.
Horizon Europe is the EU’s primary research funding program, with a total budget of approximately €95.5 billion. Korea joined Horizon Europe as an associate member in July 2025, which allows Korean entities to receive research funding directly from the EU. According to SKT, the company is the first Asian private company selected to receive funding under the program.
“Securing this Horizon Europe project reflects SKT’s depth of expertise in quantum cryptography R&D. Building on this, SKT will strengthen its position in the global quantum cryptography market through the development of next-generation QKD systems that integrate PIC and AI technologies,” said Yu Takki, Head of Network Technology Office at SKT, in a press release.
“The experience and outcomes from this multinational collaboration are also expected to make a meaningful contribution to the advancement of quantum technology in Korea.”
SKT Aiming to Demonstrate Quantum Tech
The project’s goal is to develop and demonstrate a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system based on Quantum Photonic Integrated Circuit–Artificial Intelligence (QPIC-AI) technology.
QKD uses principles of quantum mechanics to generate and distribute cryptographic keys between communicating parties. Because any interception attempt alters the physical state of the quantum particles involved, the approach is designed so that eavesdropping cannot occur without detection.
Adoption of current QKD systems has been limited. Precision optical components, such as single-photon sources and interferometers, must be individually assembled and aligned as discrete equipment, which makes the resulting systems large and contributes to high deployment costs. Reducing the size and cost of QKD systems has therefore been identified as a factor in expanding the broader market for quantum cryptographic communications.
The QPIC-AI technology to be developed under the project takes two approaches to these challenges. First, it aims to reduce system size by consolidating multiple optical components onto a single chip using photonic integrated circuit (PIC) semiconductor processes, in place of larger optical hardware. Second, it embeds AI in the system to detect and calibrate the optical state in real time, with the goal of mitigating instabilities caused by external factors such as temperature changes and vibration.
SKT argues that PIC process technology may offer benefits beyond miniaturization. Manufacturing components through semiconductor processes could lower unit costs and reduce power consumption, which the company says could support the use of QKD technology—currently concentrated in sectors such as defense and finance—across a wider range of industries.
The collaboration includes the National Centre of Scientific Research “Demokritos” (NCSRD) in Greece, the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), and the German semiconductor startup Synogate UG. NCSRD will coordinate the project and develop AI for controlling QKD optical systems; AIT will develop the key management system; and Synogate UG will design AI functional logic.
SKT will develop the PIC-based QKD system, apply AI functions, and build and validate the QKD testbed. The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) will develop PIC-based optical chips for the QKD transmitter and receiver systems.
The project is also intended to address international standardisation. Korea and Europe currently use different certification standards for quantum cryptography technologies, and the research will include a comparative analysis of these differences as a step toward aligning future certification standards.
This article has been written with the assistance of AI
