A South Korean telecoms giant wants to launch flying taxis in 2025 and expects it to be big business
BARCELONA, Spain — South Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom is planning to launch a flying taxi service in 2025 and expects it to generate “significant” revenue going forward, a senior executive told CNBC.
Last year, SK Telecom and U.S. firm Joby Aviation inked a tie-up to develop air taxis for the South Korean market. Joby Aviation is a maker of so-called electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles. These electric flying vehicles are a seen by advocates as a way to transport people around dense cities and avoid traffic.
The South Korean government is pushing forward with trying to commercialize air taxis by 2025.
SK Telecom and Joby Aviation are looking to take advantage of the government backing. Ha Min-yong, chief development officer of SK Telecom, told CNBC in an interview Sunday that the company’s air taxi service will be made available commercially “sometime in the middle of 2025,” before expanding to other areas like logistics.
“So by 2025, if we are able to prove that the service quality is acceptable to the general public with the safety and also security, then they [the government] will allow the operator to expand the area of the service, including logistics and tourism as well as medical-related services,” Ha told CNBC at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain.
SK Telecom is looking to expand its business beyond being a traditional mobile carrier and has its sights set on new areas such as artificial intelligence and flying taxis. These aircraft will require connecting to next-generation 5G networks to operate and fly, eventually autonomously. That’s where SK Telecom’s area of expertise comes in.
SK Telecom has partnered with U.S. firm Joby Aviation to bring flying taxis to South Korea in 2025. SK Telecom is looking to diversify its business model to new areas including urban air mobility and artificial intelligence.
Arjun Kharpal | CNBC
While this form of transport is at an early stage, consultancy Roland Berger forecasts that there will be nearly 160,000 unpiloted electrical drones in use worldwide by 2050. They will generate an annual revenue of nearly $90 billion, the company says.
SK Telecom wants a slice of the pie and Ha said that if all goes well, air taxis could be a big revenue driver for the company, “but not immediately.”
“So for the next at least five [to] seven years, we need to make sure that the service that we are going to offer to, you know, society and community is safe enough,” Ha said.
“Once it’s accepted very well by the community and society, then we believe that it will generate a significant amount of revenue.”
CEO of Palantir Technologies Alex Karp attends the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 15, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
It’s been a tough November for Palantir.
Shares of the software analytics provider dropped 16% for their worst month since August 2023 as investors dumped AI stocks due to valuation fears. Meanwhile, famed investor Michael Burry doubled down on the artificial intelligence trade and bet against the company.
Palantir started November off on a high note.
The Denver-based company topped Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations. Palantir also posted its second-straight $1 billion revenue quarter, but high valuation concerns contributed to a post-print selloff.
In a note to clients, Jefferies analysts called Palantir’s valuation “extreme” and argued investors would find better risk-reward in AI names such as Microsoft and Snowflake. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets raised concerns about the company’s “increasingly concentrated growth profile,” while Deutsche Bank called the valuation “very difficult to wrap our heads around.”
Adding fuel to the post-earnings selloff was the revelation that Burry is betting against Palantir and AI chipmaker Nvidia. Burry, who is widely known for predicting the housing crisis that occurred in 2008 and the portrayal of him in the film “The Big Short,” later accused hyperscalers of artificially boosting earnings.
Palantir CEO Alex Karp vocally hit the front lines, appearing twice in one week on CNBC, where he accused Burry of “market manipulation” and called the investor’s actions “egregious.”
“The idea that chips and ontology is what you want to short is bats— crazy,” Karp told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Despite the vicious selloff, Palantir has notched some deal wins this month. That included a multiyear contract with consulting firm PwC to speed up AI adoption in the U.K. and a deal with aircraft engine maintenance company FTAI.
But those announcements did little to shake off valuation worries that have haunted all AI-tied companies in November.
Across the board, investors have viciously ditched the high-priced group, citing fears of stretched valuations and a bubble.
In November, Nvidia pulled back more than 12%, while Microsoft and Amazon dropped about 5% each. Quantum computing names such as Rigetti Computing and D-Wave Quantum have shed more than a third of their value.
Apple and Alphabet were the only Magnificent 7 stocks to end the month with gains.
Sill, questions linger over Palantir’s valuation, and those worries aren’t a new concern.
Even after its steep price drop, the company’s stock trades at 233 times forward earnings. By comparison, Nvidia and Alphabet traded at about 38 times and 30 times, respectively, at Friday’s close.
Karp, who has long defended the company, didn’t miss an opportunity to clap back at his critics, arguing in a letter to shareholders that the company is making it feasible for everyday investors to attain rates of return once “limited to the most successful venture capitalists in Palo Alto.”
“Please turn on the conventional television and see how unhappy those that didn’t invest in us are,” Karp said during an earnings call. “Enjoy, get some popcorn. They’re crying. We are every day making this company better, and we’re doing it for this nation, for allied countries.”
Palantir declined to comment for this story.
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