South Korean IT solutions provider LG CNS said Tuesday it is bolstering ties with US tech behemoth Microsoft to accelerate collaborations in artificial intelligence, the cloud-based digital transformation, known as DX for short, and other joint projects.

According to the company, CEO Hyun Shin-gyoon met with Microsoft Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff at the US company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, last Thursday (local time) to attend a high-level management meeting – the second of its kind between the two companies this year.

One of the top items on the agenda during the meeting was the new direction of Azure Open AI, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform that offers coding and language AI models. The two companies will be working on developing new programs based on the platform, which include the blockbuster chatbot, ChatGPT, LG CNS said.

The two companies also agreed to expand their ventures in generative AI, which can create images and texts based on data analysis and machine learning technologies.

Under the plan, they plan to form a team composed of experts in the field. LG CNS will be responsible for building various solutions such as an AI customer service contact center, while Microsoft will provide the technology and consultations required to do so.

LG CNS also added that it will explore AI business opportunities related to production, finance, retail, e-commerce and more for its clients.

LG CNS and Microsoft met last December to discuss cooperation in various DX technologies including Azure Open AI as well as enterprise resource planning systems, smart factories and more following a cloud-based solution partnership deal that they jointly signed in 2019.

“We will be a leader in the market by working with Microsoft to rapidly create innovative AI services including cloud infrastructure, data analysis and more,” CEO Hyun said.