SK Telecom Pursues 15GW AI Data Center Buildout, Aiming to Become Asia's AI Infrastructure Hub

SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM , hereafter "SKT") today announced that it will pursue the construction of an AI data center with a scale of up to 15GW. The goal is to become an AI infrastructure hub in Asia. The move is intended to preemptively build domestic AI computing infrastructure at a time when demand for AI model training and inference is surging and high-performance computing infrastructure determines national competitiveness. SKT is pursuing the project by linking it with the government's "AI G3" strategy — the goal of becoming one of the world's three leading AI powers alongside the U.S. and China — and the task of balanced regional development, comprehensively reviewing core infrastructure elements such as power, siting, and operations for the AI data center. Ulsan AI Data Center to Expand to GW Scale; 5GW to Be Activated in Stages from 2029, Reaching 15GW in Total Due to the buildout of high-performance AI computing infrastructure and rising memory prices, constructing a typical 1GW-class AI data center may require a substantial project cost reaching approximately KRW 70 trillion. Such costs are expected to be financed not only through the company's own investment but also through strategic partner investment, long-term customer contracts, and project financing. The backdrop to SKT's move into building an AI data center at this scale is a global supply shortage. Global consulting firm McKinsey & Company forecasts that global data center demand will grow 19–22% annually while supply fails to keep pace, resulting in an estimated shortfall of about 15GW in the U.S. alone by 2030.