SK Telecom will establish a separate corporation dedicated to its artificial intelligence (AI) data center (DC) business.

SK Telecom announced on the 23rd that its board of directors had resolved to establish SK Hyper (Hyper), a specialized corporation for AI DC business development, and to contribute KRW 750 billion in capital by 2030. SK Hyper will be a wholly owned subsidiary of SK Telecom, and the capital will be injected sequentially within the approved limit. The move is seen as an effort to accelerate the business in line with the government’s AI DC mega project.

SK Hyper aims to build AI DCs with a total capacity of 15GW (gigawatts) and will be responsible for securing sites, constructing and operating substations, and acquiring customers. It plans to initially operate 5GW by 2029 and expand to 15GW by 2035 depending on market demand. Starting with a GW-class cluster in Ulsan, the company will sequentially build large-scale AI DCs in the Chungcheong region and the southwestern region. SK Telecom has also newly established the CEO直属 ‘AI DC Integrated Task Force’ to consolidate the group’s AI capabilities.

Jeong Seok-geun, head of SK Telecom’s AI CIC, has been appointed as the first chief executive officer. Jeong, who previously served as head of Naver Clova CIC, will concurrently lead the Integrated Task Force and oversee the group’s AI DC execution framework. He said, “Through systematic and rapid execution, we will secure core infrastructure and customers and contribute to Korea’s leap to become one of the world’s top three AI powerhouses.”

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