SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won declared that SK will emerge as the most efficient provider of AI solutions in response to the rapidly growing demand for artificial intelligence.
During his keynote address at the 'SK AI Summit 2025' at COEX in Seoul's Gangnam-gu district that day, Chairman Chey highlighted the explosive growth rate of AI demand and emphasized that addressing supply-demand imbalances represents SK's responsibility.
The 'SK AI Summit' serves as a gathering point for prominent AI companies and international experts in the field. This year's two-day event, running through the 4th, operates under the theme 'AI Now & Next,' focusing on evaluating AI's current status while investigating its future possibilities.
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Chairman Chey predicted, “All companies believe they will fall behind if they do not adopt AI, so the B2B AI market will grow explosively regardless of cost.” He noted that while global data center investments reached 600 billion dollars (approximately 800 trillion Korean won) this year, showing significant growth, major tech companies have announced new data center investments exceeding this amount.
To address this explosive AI demand, Chairman Chey presented three key strategies: ‘memory semiconductor supply,’ ‘AI infrastructure construction,’ and ‘AI utilization.’ First, to resolve memory supply bottlenecks, the M15X fab at the Cheongju Campus will begin full-scale operation next year, and the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster will be completed by 2027. Chairman Chey highlighted, “We received a request from OpenAI to supply 900,000 HBM sheets per month,” and added, “Once the four fabs in the Yongin Cluster are completed, it will have the same effect as building 24 M15X fabs in Cheongju.”
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Regarding AI infrastructure, the company will pursue optimal solutions by forming strategic alliances with partners such as AWS (Amazon Web Services) and the Ulsan AI Data Center, along with OpenAI and data centers in the southwestern region.
For AI implementation, the organization plans to develop a virtual factory using digital twin technology in partnership with NVIDIA through their 'AI Factory' initiative to achieve complete automation of memory semiconductor manufacturing processes. Additionally, there are strategies to broaden the deployment of business AI agents similar to SK Telecom's 'A.dot Biz' platform.
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Meanwhile, video messages from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were also unveiled at the event. Altman stated, “I believe the strategic partnership with SK is the beginning of long-term cooperation to shape the future of AI in Korea and around the world.” Jassy remarked, “What makes the partnership with SK special is that we are jointly applying practical lessons learned from large-scale AI operations,” and added, “There is significant potential for future collaboration in next-generation fields, including semiconductors.”