Jung Jae-heon, CEO of SK Telecom and Chairman of the Korea AI Technology Association (KAIT), evaluated that "a foundation has been laid for the Korean AI DC industry to take off." He also expressed his determination to work hard to build a domestic AI ecosystem.
The chairman said after the 'AIDC Alliance Launch Ceremony' held in the afternoon of the 29th at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, "Speed is truly critical for building an AI DC," adding, "This is not something that can be done by individuals or single companies; multiple ministries and private teams must move together. With the birth of this alliance, a focal point has been established, laying the foundation for our success."
On this day, the Ministry of Science and ICT launched the 'AI Data Center (AIDC) Alliance' with over 400 participants from industry, academia, and research sectors, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Financial Services Commission, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The alliance is a public-private consultation body aimed at promoting the national strategic industrialization of AIDC, including the construction of AI data centers with a capacity of 18.4GW. SKT will build 15GW out of the total scale.
The first chairpersons of the alliance were Deputy Prime Minister Park Chan-woo and Minister of Science and ICT, along with Jung Jae-heon, Chairman of KAIT and CEO of SKT. It was explained that a focal point is needed to promote the development of the AI DC industry and secure funding, leading to Jeong (CEO) becoming the first private co-chair as chairman of KAIT and CEO of SKT.
He also expressed his ambition to serve as co-chair by identifying global demand sources for AIDC and contributing to the establishment of a domestic AI ecosystem. Jeong (CEO) stated, "SKT is leading the largest scale of AIDC projects, and securing demand sources is the most important task," adding, "We are not just building data centers; we expect to create an AI ecosystem based on AIDC."
Meanwhile, the alliance includes 12 Gi Eop-i (Chairman) groups participating in AI services, cloud, power and facilities, and AI semiconductor fields: Naver Cloud, Samsung SDS (Samsung SDI), SK Telecom, NHN Cloud, LG Electronics, LG Uplus, KT, Kakao, LS Electric, GS, KTNF, and Furiorea AI.
The alliance was launched to establish a platform for public-private cooperation and communication necessary for the systematic and speedy implementation of the government's 'National Strategic Industrialization of AI Data Centers' strategy, announced last month as part of three mega-projects. It aims to: △construct large-scale AIDCs with a capacity of 18.4GW; △industrialize upstream and downstream industries related to AIDC for export; and △create AIDC clusters and build large-scale testbeds.
in TECH
