Hyundai Motor advances $6.3 bil. AI hub in Saemangeum
From left, Gunsan Mayor Kim Jae-jun, Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency Commissioner Moon Seong-yo, Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) Vice President Shin Seung-kyu and North Jeolla Province Gov. Lee Won-taek pull ribbons to unveil a signboard during the opening ceremony of the HMG Saemangeum Office at the Future Mobility Tech Center of the Jeonbuk Institute of Automotive Technology in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Friday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group
Hyundai Motor Group said Friday it will set up two special purpose companies next month to build and operate an artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Saemangeum — a massive reclaimed coastal zone in southwestern Korea — accelerating its 9 trillion won ($6.3 billion) plan to turn the area into an advanced tech hub.
Situated in North Jeolla Province roughly 200 kilometers south of Seoul, Saemangeum is a vast, government-backed development area created by damming tidal flats to claim new land from the sea. Long slated for economic transformation, the coastal territory is being developed as a strategic enclave for high-tech industry, green energy and tourism.
Five affiliates — Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai AutoEver — have made final decisions to invest in the data center, the group said. Hyundai AutoEver, the group’s information technology and software affiliate, approved its participation through a board resolution.
One of the new companies will build the hyperscale data center and its infrastructure. The other will buy high-performance graphics processing units and provide computing services. Construction is set to begin in March 2027, with full operations starting in early 2030.
The data center will be used to train and test the group’s self-driving software around the clock. It will also train robots in virtual environments and support vehicle research and development. The group is focusing on physical AI, which refers to AI that controls machines such as cars and robots in the real world.
The group said it is discussing technical cooperation with global companies and working on financing with the state-run Korea Development Bank and other lenders.
On Friday, the group opened an on-site office in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, to handle permits, construction and talks with government agencies. Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency Commissioner Moon Sung-yo and Jeonbuk State Gov. Lee Won-taek were among about 30 people at the ceremony.
“The office is a symbol of our will to push ahead with the project without wavering,” said Shin Seung-kyu, a Hyundai Motor Group vice president.
The Saemangeum AI Valley will also include a robot manufacturing cluster, solar power, a hydrogen production plant and an AI hydrogen city.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.