Key facts
- SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won visited an AI data center under construction in Ulsan on Thursday.
- The SK AI Data Center Ulsan is being jointly developed with Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- The project is estimated to cost 7 trillion won ($5.2 billion).
- The data center is designed to support high-performance computing using GPUs and hybrid cooling systems.
- Construction began in August last year and is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2027.
- The group plans to use the center to attract AI companies and drive manufacturing innovation.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won visited a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center under construction in Ulsan, South Korea, on Thursday, emphasizing its importance for the nation's AI infrastructure and its potential to integrate with the group's manufacturing operations. Chey was accompanied by executives from major SK affiliates, including SK Innovation, SK Telecom, and SK Gas.
The SK AI Data Center Ulsan, located in the city's national industrial complex, is a joint development with Amazon Web Services (AWS) with an estimated cost of 7 trillion won ($5.2 billion). Chey described the facility as a crucial component of South Korea's AI infrastructure and highlighted SK Innovation's Ulsan Complex (CLX) as a prime location for applying AI to real-world manufacturing. The Ulsan CLX, SK Innovation's main refining and petrochemical base, is undergoing an AI-driven transformation, creating a link between the group's expanding AI computing capabilities and its traditional industrial businesses.
"SK's vision of becoming a full-stack AI provider can only be realized when the SK AI Data Center Ulsan, a symbol of AI infrastructure, is seamlessly connected with SK Innovation's Ulsan CLX, where AI is applied to actual production," Chey stated, urging for increased synergy among SK Group affiliates.
Construction for the data center commenced with a groundbreaking ceremony in August of the previous year. The facility is designed to support high-performance computing powered by graphics processing units (GPUs) and features hybrid cooling systems for enhanced performance and efficiency. The group intends to leverage the Ulsan data center as a hub to attract AI companies, generate employment, and foster manufacturing innovation, positioning it as a new growth engine for the industrial city. Operations are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027.