Park Jae-hyuk is a seasoned journalist who has provided comprehensive coverage of South Korea's corporate dynamics, economic policies, industry challenges and the global positioning of Korean companies. Based on the articles he has written since joining The Korea Times in 2016, his investigative approach has helped readers understand corporate governance, economic trends and business strategies shaping South Korea’s economy.
Doosan chair heads to US as Elon Musk confirms xAI's gas turbine purchase
Screens displaying xAI founder Elon Musk and the logos of the artificial intelligence (AI) startup and Grok, a generative AI chatbot developed by the company, are seen in this photograph taken Jan. 13, 2025. AFP-Yonhap
By Park Jae-hyuk
Korean firm's management attends CES to learn latest trends in AI
Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won’s visit to the United States this week is drawing attention, as it comes after Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed the widespread rumor that xAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup he founded, is the U.S. tech firm that placed orders with the Korean conglomerate for five gas turbines.
Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won
On Tuesday, Musk commented “True” on a social media post by SemiAnalysis that read, “BREAKING: Elon Musk's xAI has bought five additional 380 megawatts of natural gas turbines from South Korea's Doosan Enerbility.”
“The first two units are scheduled for delivery by the end of 2026. This will power an additional 600,000+ GB200 NVL72 equivalent size cluster (or 350,000+ VR200 NVL144 equivalent size cluster),” the U.S. analysis firm wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that Ross Nordeen, Elon Musk and Brent Mayo are "singular" in terms of their ability to build the largest data center in the world.
Doosan Enerbility, the group’s equipment and plant construction arm, announced last October that a major U.S. tech company had ordered two 380-megawatt gas turbines to power its data centers. The deal marked Korea’s first export of domestically developed gas turbines. At the time, the company said it would deliver the two turbines by late 2026.
Last month, Doosan Enerbility announced another order from the same client for three additional 380-megawatt gas turbines, while keeping the customer’s identity confidential.
“For the data center this company will build, we will supply one gas turbine by 2027 and two by 2028,” Doosan Enerbility said.
A scale model of Doosan Enerbility's gas turbine is displayed at Doosan Group's exhibition booth at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Tuesday (local time). Newsis
In his New Year’s address last week, Park highlighted the gas turbine deals as one of the company’s most notable achievements in 2025.
“With self-confidence in our globally recognized electronic material and gas turbine technologies, let’s widen the gap with competitors and make efforts to attract more customers,” he said.
Doosan is displaying a scale model of its gas turbine at the center of its exhibition booth at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, apparently aiming to capitalize on rising demand in the U.S. market.
Market watchers are keeping close watch on whether Park’s trip will lead to stronger ties with Musk’s businesses in gas turbine supply, though the main purpose of his visit is to learn about the latest AI technologies at the trade show.
According to Doosan Group, the chairman departed for the U.S. to attend the annual tech fair on Wednesday, following his previous visits in 2020 and 2024.
His younger brother, Doosan Enerbility CEO Park Gee-won, attended the event's opening ceremony on Tuesday (local time) and greeted Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun at Doosan’s booth.
Doosan Bobcat CEO Scott Park also joined the exhibition to introduce the company’s AI voice control system for compact construction equipment during a Media Day event one day earlier.