Concerns over AI investment from the US... Big Tech pays attention to Korea’s data center business

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Han Sang-yong and Kwon Ha-young = As uncertainty about investment in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers increases after the U.S. midterm elections, interest is also focused on data center construction projects being pursued in Korea by U.S. big tech companies.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is constructing an AI data center in Ulsan with SK Group and aims for partial operation at the end of next year, while Microsoft (MS) is pursuing the construction of a third data center in Busan.

OpenAI and Antropic are also seeking cooperation in building AI data centers with domestic companies such as Samsung and SK, and NVIDIA is participating in Naver's AI factory project, leading global big techs to continue investing in and cooperating with domestic AI infrastructure.

◇ AWS Ulsan AI Data Center to partially operate at the end of next year… MS Busan Unit 3 Promotion

According to the government and industry on the 10th, SK Group and AWS are currently working on an AI data center in the Mipo National Industrial Complex in Ulsan, which held a groundbreaking ceremony in August last year.

The two companies' goal is to begin partial operation at 41 megawatts (MW) at the end of next year and expand to 103 MW by February 2029. In last year's performance announcement, SK Gas [018670] introduced this business as a scale of approximately 60,000 graphics processing units (GPUs).

It is reported that Microsoft is pursuing the construction of its third data center in Mieum International Industrial Logistics City, Gangseo-gu, Busan.

Previously, MS completed its first data center in the Mieum Industrial Complex in Gangseo-gu, Busan in April 2020. Busan City announced that it has attracted additional investment in an artificial intelligence (AI) cloud data center in line with the completion ceremony of the second data center in September 2024.

However, it has not been confirmed whether MS actually began construction of Unit 3 in Busan.

◇ Open AI and Antropic domestic infrastructure cooperation... NVIDIA participates in Naver AI Factory

ChatGPT developer OpenAI is considering building a domestic AI data center with Samsung and SK.

In October last year, the government revealed Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, and South Jeolla Province as areas for the project.

In Jeonnam, Haenam Solaseado and Jangseong High-tech District 3 have been discussed as candidate sites, but the final location has not yet been revealed.

Open AI Korea announced at a press conference in September this year that it is preparing to build infrastructure so that AI model inference can be processed domestically.

Antropic signed a comprehensive memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SK Telecom in July to cooperate in building a gigawatt (GW)-class AI data center in Korea.

The sites and operation schedules of individual facilities in which Antropic will participate have not been disclosed.

NVIDIA participates in Naver's AI factory business through GPU supply and equity investment.

Naver signed a contract with Brookfield last month to secure computing infrastructure worth $9 billion, and Nvidia recently paid 1.3412 trillion won for Naver's paid-in capital increase.

Naver has set a goal of operating a 55MW AI computing infrastructure in the first half of next year, using Sejong City's data center 'Gak Sejong' as its first base.