en.Wedoany.com Reported - South Korean telecom operator LG Uplus announced on May 12, 2026, that it has officially signed an agreement with Maxis, Malaysia's second-largest mobile operator, to deploy its AI call assistant ixi-O in the Malaysian market via a SaaS model, with plans to launch within the year. This marks the first time LG Uplus has exported its proprietary AI service overseas since announcing its transformation into a "global AI software company" at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March 2026.
ixi-O is an AI platform that uses voice calls as an entry point, integrating features such as call recording and summarization, real-time voice phishing detection, AI call answering, and an AI assistant. In terms of technical architecture, the platform combines LG Uplus's self-developed small language model ixi-GEN with Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash Live large model—the former, developed based on LG AI Research's Exaone 3.5, is used for real-time call context analysis and intent capture; the latter, through an ultra-low latency streaming AI engine, synchronously completes semantic understanding and information retrieval during natural conversation without interrupting the call flow. The entire system deploys on-device AI processing and cloud inference collaboratively, with sensitive call content undergoing speech-to-text conversion on the terminal, and only de-identified instruction requests uploaded to the cloud, thereby establishing a balance between functional completeness and user privacy.
LG Uplus emphasized that ixi-O is not simply a translated export of the Korean version, but has been deeply customized based on Maxis's network environment and local user habits. The platform leverages the multilingual processing capabilities of the on-device AI engine to adapt to Malaysia's unique "Manglish" expressions, while also supporting WhatsApp call recording—considering WhatsApp's over 90% instant messaging penetration rate in Malaysia, this localization effort directly determines the product's usability locally.
Maxis currently has approximately 10 million mobile subscribers and has built extensive 4G and 5G network coverage throughout Malaysia. In recent years, the company has accelerated its transformation from a traditional telecom pipe provider to a digital solutions enterprise, continuously investing in AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, and establishing partnerships with vendors like Huawei and Singtel in technological areas such as 5G-Advanced, edge computing, and network slicing. The introduction of ixi-O represents Maxis's first clear positioning in the consumer AI services sector.
This collaboration extends beyond the call assistant. LG Uplus and Maxis have agreed in the contract to further explore cooperation around AI smart home services and B2B solutions. LG Uplus CEO Hong Beom-sik referred to this agreement in an internal announcement as "the first software export case and the first AI service planned and developed directly for overseas markets," while Maxis CEO Goh Seow Eng publicly expressed being deeply impressed by LG Uplus's security technology and on-device AI capabilities, looking forward to collaboration in more areas.
Malaysia's telecommunications industry has an annual revenue scale of approximately USD 7.23 billion, placing it at a medium-to-high level within the ASEAN region. Driven by the government's ongoing "Digital Malaysia" strategy, its 5G coverage target is 98%, and coupled with its geographical advantage at the heart of Southeast Asia, Malaysia is gradually being positioned as a regional hub for 5G, AI, and data center interconnectivity. By choosing Maxis as its first overseas landing partner, LG Uplus is essentially leveraging the latter's local brand recognition and user base to enter the Southeast Asian AI service market through an asset-light SaaS model, avoiding the heavy investment risks of building its own sales channels and infrastructure.
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