“SKT will build Asia Pacific’s No. 1 AI infrastructure”

SKT CEO Yoo Young-sang unveiled plans to build an 'AI Infrastructure Super Highway' at the 'SK AI Summit 2024' on the 4th and announced that he would lead powerful changes based on AI infrastructure.

SKT plans to build AI infrastructure nationwide centered on three axes: AI data center, GPU cloud service (GPUaaS), and Edge AI, and based on this, enter the global market with domestic and foreign partners.

SK ICT Chairman and CEO Yoo Young-sang said, “Just as South Korea has risen to the ranks of ICT powerhouses based on its world-class ICT infrastructure, the success formula that starts with infrastructure can be applied to the AI era as well.” He added, “We plan to take the lead in helping South Korea leap forward as an AI G3 by building an ‘AI Infrastructure Super Highway.’”

First, SKT will provide 100MW (megawatt) of power to its domestic regional bases.The plan is to start with a hyper-scale AI DC (data center) that requires more than 100 watts of power, and expand its scale to GW (gigawatt) or more in the future to become an 'AI DC hub' in the Asia-Pacific region.

Establishing AI DCs in regional hubs will allow for the use of local renewable energy sources such as hydrogen, solar energy, and wind power, and will also facilitate global expansion through submarine cables.

SKT explained that by combining SK's high-efficiency next-generation semiconductors, energy solutions such as liquid immersion cooling, and AI cluster operation capabilities, it will be possible to build an efficient AI DC at a lower cost.

Prior to this, SKT plans to open an AI DC testbed in Pangyo in December that will combine SK Group's capabilities and various solutions held by its partners.

This is the only testbed in Korea where cutting-edge AI semiconductors such as the latest NVIDIA chips and Hynix HBM, three next-generation liquid cooling solutions, GPU virtualization solutions, and AI energy optimization technology are all implemented, allowing you to get a sneak peek at the future AI DC.

SKT emphasized that in the mid- to long-term, it expects to attract new investments worth over 50 trillion won, create over 550,000 jobs, have an economic effect of over 175 trillion won, and foster advanced AI industries in the region through the GW-level AI DC.

Secondly, SKT plans to launch GPUaaS (GPU as a Service), which provides GPUs in the cloud by converting the Gasan Data Center located in the metropolitan area into an AI DC to quickly resolve the domestic GPU supply shortage.

SKT plans to launch GPUaaS based on H100 in December through collaboration with Lambda in the US, and to introduce the latest GPU H200 for the first time in Korea in March 2025, gradually expanding the quantity according to customer demand.

Through this SKT plans to support the activation of the AI ecosystem in Korea by allowing more companies to easily develop AI services at a low cost without directly purchasing GPUs.

At the same time, we will also implement ‘Korean-style sovereign AI’ centered on K-AI semiconductors.

SKT plans to invest a total of KRW 100 billion from 2025 to implement a ‘Korean-style sovereign AI’ that combines Rebellion’s NPU (Neural Processing Unit), SK Hynix’s HBM, and various AI DC solutions owned by SK Telecom and its partners.

We plan to build the largest NPU Farm in the country and, in cooperation with the government, lead the way in AI technology independence and ecosystem expansion not only in the public sector where data sovereignty is important, but also in cooperation with major domestic companies, cloud service providers, and K-AI startups.

Lastly, we plan to introduce ‘Edge AI’ that can bridge the gap between AI DC and ‘On-Device AI’ by utilizing the nationwide connected communication infrastructure.

'Edge AI' is an infrastructure that combines mobile communication networks and AI computing. It is not only advantageous in terms of low latency, enhanced security and privacy protection compared to large-scale AI DC, but is also expected to have complementary functions with existing AI infrastructure as it enables large-scale AI calculations compared to 'on-device AI'.

Currently, SKT is conducting research on prior technologies and developing customized servers and building AI DCs using communication infrastructure in collaboration with global partners. In addition, we are promoting various PoCs (verification projects) to discover edge AI specialized services in six areas including healthcare, AI robots, and AI CCTV through collaboration with various domestic and foreign companies.

CEO Yoo Young-sang emphasized, “Until now, communications infrastructure has been a competition of connectivity, that is, a battle of speed and capacity, but now the paradigm of network evolution must change,” and expressed confidence, “In the future, 6G will evolve into a next-generation AI infrastructure that fuses communications and AI.”

SKT plans to enter the global market by developing an AI DC total solution that combines AI semiconductors, data centers, and energy solutions through cooperation with domestic and foreign AI companies.

We are also exploring global GPUaaS business opportunities with Lambda and others, with whom we have formed GPUaaS-based partnerships.

Lastly, we plan to work together to transform the AI infrastructure of 6G by leading the global technology standardization of 'edge AI' and conducting joint research on leading technologies.

SK Telecom CEO Yoo Young-sang said, “SK Telecom is building an AI infrastructure superhighway under the mission of Korea’s AI G3 leap,” and proposed, “Let’s join forces so that the government, local governments, and companies can create a new future together.”