- SK Telecom is supersizing its AI ambitions, with plans to build up to 15 GW of data center capacity
- KT and LG Uplus are making their own big AI infrastructure plays, pouring billions into AI data centers, network upgrades and more
- The operator investment spree aligns with South Korea’s push to become a top-three global AI power
SK Telecom massively scaled up its AI ambitions, unveiling plans to build up to 15 gigawatts (GW) of AI data center capacity over the coming years.
The operator had previously committed to build at least 1 GW of AI data center compute to help turn the country into an Asian AI hub. Now, it is targeting 15 GW, starting with a 2 GW cluster in the southeastern part of the country (including its Ulsan facility that is currently in progress) and a 1 GW cluster in the southwestern region of South Korea.
All told, SKT expects to light up 5 GW of domestic AI data center capacity starting in 2029 and expand up to 15 GW by 2035. The company said in a regulatory filing it plans to secure funding for the project through “various investment structures and the participation of strategic partners, including global big tech firms and foreign capital,” although it added the scale of these investments remained to be seen.
SKT recently told Fierce that it is working with Arm and accelerator startup Rebellions to design custom data center hardware that would allow it to deliver more efficient AI performance in the same power envelope – a key differentiator given power supply is a critical constraint for data centers.
Not to be outdone, KT on Monday announced plans to spend about $11.7 billion (18 trillion Won) on its AX Platform Company aimed at turning the company into an AI juggernaut. The funds will go toward beefing up its network, cybersecurity and IT capabilities over the next three years, local news agencies reported.
Nearly half of the money (5 trillion Won) will go toward the construction of gigawatt-scale AI data centers. It plans to spend 1 trillion Won on additional submarine cable capacity.
The announcement was the first major play from new KT CEO Park Yoon-young, who was appointed at the end of March.
Both investments come after LG Uplus last month laid out plans to mold itself into an AI factory operator. The operator is currently building a 200 MW data center in Paju that is set to open next year, and it is targeting $3.3 billion (5 trillion won) in cumulative AI compute orders by 2030, Korea JoongAng Daily reported.
Korea’s AI ambitions
The nearly united operator push comes after the Korean government began pursuing its AI G3 initiative, which aims to position Korea as a top-three global AI power.
SKT’s announcement was one of three “mega projects” announced by the Korean government last week. In addition to its data center projects, SK Group (SKT’s parent company) said it is planning to spend big to increase its semiconductor production capacity. Samsung is also undertaking a project to build more semiconductor capacity.
In addition to securing AI dominance, sovereignty has been at the core of Korea’s efforts to build and deploy more of its own AI infrastructure. Beyond data centers and chips, the government has also pushed domestic companies to build sovereign AI models. SKT was recently tapped as one of three companies to move on to Phase 2 of that initiative.