SK Telecom Inks AI Data Center Deal
SK Telecom signed an MOU with Supermicro and Schneider Electric for AI data center solutions. The partnership will focus on a pre-fabricated modular model to accelerate deployment and improve cost efficiency, strengthening SKT's global AI infrastructure competitiveness.
This partnership is a key component of SK Telecom's 'AI Pyramid Strategy,' which aims to triple the company's AI-related investments to 33% of the total between 2024 and 2028. The strategy focuses on building out AI infrastructure, including data centers and proprietary semiconductors, as the foundation for the company's transformation. The collaboration aims to address the increasing demand for power and cooling driven by AI workloads. Supermicro's direct liquid cooling (DLC) solutions can reduce data center power consumption by up to 40% compared to traditional air-cooled systems. This is critical as the demand for liquid-cooled data centers is expected to grow to 30% of all installations. Schneider Electric provides prefabricated modular data center components, which significantly reduce on-site construction and deployment time. This modular approach allows for faster scaling and greater flexibility, enabling deployment in as little as 12 to 16 weeks from delivery. This deal is part of SKT's broader "AI-native" transformation, which includes building hyperscale AI data centers with a combined capacity exceeding 1 gigawatt across South Korea. The goal is to establish the nation as a major AI data center hub in Asia, attracting global investment. At MWC Barcelona 2026, SKT emphasized collaboration with global telecom operators like Deutsche Telekom, Orange, and Singtel to build a trusted AI infrastructure. The company is promoting a "Sovereign AI Package," combining locally controlled infrastructure with its own large language model, A.X K1, to address data sovereignty concerns. The move reflects a global trend where data residency rules and the need for sovereign AI are reshaping data center construction. This is pushing governments and corporations to invest in domestic AI infrastructure, a trend visible in Europe, China, and South Korea. SKT's strategy also involves developing its own AI chips through its arm, Sapeon, and innovating in data center architecture with partners like Panmnesia to overcome data movement bottlenecks using Compute Express Link (CXL) technology.
