SK Telecom (017670.KS) will build and operate an "AI Factory" with Nvidia, enabling Korean companies, research institutions, and startups to develop and use artificial intelligence. While Nvidia's cooperation within SK Group has so far centered on SK hynix (000660.KS), which supplies high-performance memory, SK Telecom is now expected to emerge as a key partner in building infrastructure that supplies and applies AI to actual industrial sites.
"SK Telecom and Nvidia have formed a partnership to build an AI factory in Korea," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said at a media briefing held at the SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Monday. "Future telecommunications networks will not simply be networks that deliver bits, but networks combined with AI."
The AI Factory announced by the two companies goes beyond existing data centers to mean a next-generation AI production base that combines GPUs, high-performance memory, networks, power, and operating software. The key is to allow companies and research institutions to use high-performance AI computing resources without building large-scale AI infrastructure on their own. Nvidia is pursuing a plan to establish its first AI factory in Korea in 2027, and SK Telecom will take on the role of connecting Nvidia's AI computing technology to domestic industrial sites based on its telecommunications network operation experience, data center capabilities, and corporate customer base.
Regarding the AI Factory, Huang said, "It is essential infrastructure not only for Korea's education, universities, and science research institutes, but also for startups and industry." He added, "Korea has a world-class AI ecosystem, but its AI infrastructure is still very lacking." He also said, "Just as fabs were needed for semiconductors, AI fabs are needed for AI, and SK Telecom will help build them."
The industry sees that through this cooperation, SK Telecom will expand its identity from a telecommunications network operator to an AI infrastructure operator. For Korean AI startups, universities, research institutions, and manufacturers to develop global-level AI models and services, stable high-performance computing infrastructure is essential. Analysts say that if SK Telecom takes on the role of building and operating Nvidia's AI computing technology domestically, it could emerge as a platform operator supplying the computing resources needed for Korea's AI ecosystem. At the SK Group level, an AI value chain strategy combining semiconductors and telecommunications infrastructure is taking concrete shape. SK hynix will supply the core memory that goes into Nvidia's next-generation AI platform, and SK Telecom will handle the construction and operation of the AI Factory based on this. "The most advanced AI technology is produced in SK hynix's fabs, and we are working closely so that it can be used not only by SK Telecom but also by SK hynix," Huang said.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won also presented SK Telecom's role in this cooperation as a core pillar of building AI infrastructure. "The cooperation so far has mainly been centered on memory between SK hynix and Nvidia, but now we are raising the level of cooperation so that SK Group and Nvidia draw a bigger picture," Chey said. "We will build the AI Factory together, share an AI roadmap with Nvidia, and respond more quickly to future AI demand."
