Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, pointed to "commercialization" and "sustainability" as the next tasks in the artificial intelligence (AI) race. He said that because massive resources have been投入, a structure must be built for AI to generate actual revenue.
On the 11th at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center (UECO) during the "2026 Ulsan Forum," Chey said, "If all humanity has poured this much energy into AI, we must, one way or another, create better business models so that it is commercialized and cycles back," adding, "We need to reach a structure where it earns money and can invest on its own."
In addition to the "3S" — speed, scale, and safety — that have been presented as a core strategy for securing AI competitiveness, he proposed business models and sustainability as new tasks.
Chey said, "If we put all our resources into AI and there is little return, concerns arise that it could pop like a bubble," adding, "The situation is beginning to unfold before us where we must think together about what kinds of business models to create and how to secure sustainability and structure it internally."
Regarding ways to apply AI to Ulsan's manufacturing sector, he emphasized expanding the scale of data. Chey said, "The larger the scale of data for manufacturing AI, the much higher the chances of success," explaining, "Collecting data and scaling the necessary data is not just an issue for Ulsan but an issue for Korea."
At the 2024 Ulsan Forum, Chey also proposed that, to enhance manufacturing competitiveness using AI, the city should build industrial infrastructure and use data to train AI. This time, he expanded the task of securing data needed for manufacturing AI to a national-level agenda.
He cited four capabilities the younger generation should develop in the AI era: "thinking muscles," "empathy muscles," "adaptation muscles," and "body skills." Rather than outsourcing thinking to AI, he said it is important to think independently about problems to solve, to understand others, to adapt to change, and to learn through hands-on experience.
Chey said, "Ultimately, understanding people with AI tools is the direction education should take," adding, "Universities and corporations should move away from hiring only those with strong credentials and instead focus on how to understand and approach people — that is the direction we should pursue."
After the forum's closing, Chey met with reporters and also mentioned the AI data center SK Group is building in Ulsan and collaboration with global big tech companies. He said, "The Ulsan AI data center has made significant progress and is nearing 900MW (megawatts)," adding, "Once construction is finished, we will be able to announce it soon."
Regarding the recently proposed "Korea-Japan economic community," he cited energy as the first area for cooperation. Chey said, "Korea and Japan each import $140 billion (about 188 trillion won) of energy annually, totaling about $300 billion (about 403 trillion won) for both countries," explaining, "There is potential for cooperation, such as reducing expense through joint purchasing, stockpiling, and use, and both countries share the view that energy security must be maintained."
He added, "It will take some time, but the energy sector can clearly move into a realm of cooperation," and said, "In the future, beyond fossil fuels, everything from renewable energy to hydrogen energy and nuclear power can be seen as areas for collaboration."