SK chairman calls on affiliates to ride AI wave

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, center, speaks during a conference at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's office in Seoul, Dec. 18. Yonhap

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Thursday urged key subsidiaries in memory chips, information communication technology (ICT), energy solutions and batteries to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) to raise their global competitiveness.

Citing a proverb of riding the wind and cutting through rough waves, Chey said in an email new year message to employees that the group should boldly navigate the turbulent global market on the powerful tailwind of AI.

SK Group is one of the Korean conglomerates seeking to capitalize on the rapid expansion of AI use, with its key portfolio spanning SK hynix's memory chips, SK Telecom's ICT and network business and SK Innovation's energy solutions.

“We are going through a turbulent period in which global industries and business structures are being reorganized around AI, and AI has already become a reality that is deeply embedded in our daily lives,” he said. “From memory and ICT to energy solutions, batteries and the services that connect them, the path SK has walked for decades has ultimately been a journey preparing for the era of AI.”

To harness those capabilities, Chey proposed an “integrated AI solution” that brings together the business expertise SK affiliates have built over decades in areas such as energy, telecommunications, construction and biotech.

"What we need is the wisdom to cement further the businesses that SK has been doing so well and place AI on top of them," he said. "That will create SK’s unique value, introducing new AI-based solutions and services in the sectors that we know better than anyone else in the world."

Chey said SK proved itself as a “highly trusted partner” in the global AI chip industry last year by locking horns with global tech firms. He thanked his employees for strengthening SK through portfolio rebalancing and operation improvement.

“The AI era has just begun. Our market is larger than ever before. So are our opportunities,” he said.