SK Telecom will spearhead the dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) data center (DC) subsidiary SK Hyper, established last month, to gradually build AI DCs totaling 5 GW by 2029. The company will make partitioning capital contributions of 750 billion won to SK Hyper through 2030. The amount to be invested in SK Hyper this year is 330 billion won. Park Jong-seok, SK Telecom chief financial officer (CFO), addressed market concerns about the investment size during a second-quarter earnings conference call on the 5th, saying, "We are fully aware," and added, "We will operate in a structure where we secure customers first for AI DC funding and then attract financial investors."
Park, the CFO, said, "The business rights will be retained by the company, while direct investment will be minimized, and the funds needed for actual construction and operation will be raised through external capital such as financial investors." He continued, "Considering the 5 GW expansion, the future capital contribution size could increase beyond this," adding, "This year's contribution amount is not at a level that burdens the company."
Lee Jae-shin, head of AI business development at SK Telecom, said, "We are continuing discussions on AI infrastructure demand, mainly with big tech," but did not disclose specific customer names or finalized contract sizes. Lee added, "Even as power, connectivity, and water—key elements of AI data centers—remain constrained, Korea has competitiveness to attract AI infrastructure investments from global big tech."
Park, the CFO, also emphasized that there is no change in the shareholder-return stance. Park said, "There may be concerns that the fundamental direction of capital allocation is changing due to the announcement of GW-scale AIDC investments, but there is no change in the shareholder-return stance."