SK Group Strengthens Global AI Alliances Through Major Infrastructure Partnerships in Silicon Valley

In a strategic move to solidify its position within the international artificial intelligence landscape, SK Group has secured wide-ranging cooperation agreements with several of the world’s leading technology firms. During the K-AI Summit held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won engaged with top executives from Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Anthropic. These discussions centered on advancing AI infrastructure, specifically focusing on the development of AI factories, semiconductor manufacturing, and large-scale data center construction.

A primary highlight of these discussions was a comprehensive agreement with Nvidia valued at over $500 billion. The two entities signed a Letter of Intent to collaborate on an expansive AI ecosystem. As part of this, SK Telecom plans to utilize Nvidia’s advanced GPU technology and the DSX platform to establish high-performance AI factories in South Korea, aiming for a 2GW capacity. These facilities will integrate SK Hynix’s forthcoming HBM4 memory products and the Vera Rubin computing system, with a phased operational rollout starting in 2027. This initiative is designed to address the surging demand for AI services across the Asia-Pacific region by focusing on sovereign and agentic AI models.

Beyond the Nvidia partnership, SK Hynix finalized a long-term commitment to supply specialized server memory to Microsoft’s data centers, aiming to establish new industry standards for AI workloads. Furthermore, SK Telecom expanded its existing relationship with Anthropic through a memorandum of understanding to build gigawatt-level AI data centers domestically. The group also met with AWS to leverage their prior successful collaboration in Ulsan, seeking to expand their joint infrastructure efforts across more locations in South Korea. Additionally, Chairman Chey met with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to further discuss long-term memory supply and data center operations.

These international collaborations serve as the backbone for SK’s "Three Mega Projects," which focus on building a national semiconductor belt and a comprehensive data center network. According to Chairman Chey, the rapid growth in computing power requirements makes these massive investments necessary for South Korea to transform from an AI consumer into a global innovation hub. He emphasized that the success of these projects depends on making South Korea an 'AI-native national' through widespread agent use, lowering operational costs via memory efficiency, and establishing responsible AI governance.

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Read original at SK Telecom Newsroom.