SK chairman says Ulsan AI data center expansion nearing 900 megawatts

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said Friday that the planned expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Ulsan was nearing 900 megawatts, with talks with global technology companies making rapid progress as the group seeks to turn the industrial city into a hub for manufacturing AI.

“Ulsan has almost come all the way to 900 megawatts,” Chey told reporters at the 2026 Ulsan Forum in the city. “I think we will be able to announce it soon.”

The group’s telecommunications arm, SK Telecom, is building the AI data center in Ulsan in partnership with Amazon Web Services. The project was initially launched as a 100-megawatt facility and is scheduled to begin operations in the second half of next year.

SK Telecom said in July that it planned to expand the Ulsan site to 1 gigawatt and develop more than 2 gigawatts of AI data center capacity across South and North Gyeongsang provinces.

The Ulsan project, which SK has said will require about 7 trillion won ($5.2 billion) in investment, is the starting point for SK Telecom’s broader plan to build up to 15 gigawatts of AI data center capacity across Korea.

“It has not even been a year since the current data center plan came out,” Chey said. “We have continued discussions with big tech companies, so the progress is quite fast.”

He also highlighted the importance of securing a stable power supply as AI data centers consume large amounts of electricity around the clock.

“SK Innovation is making energy solutions using AI and is also making electrification solutions needed for AI data centers,” he said. “We also have partners and investment plans to expand them further.”

The chairman said Ulsan, a major manufacturing base, could serve as a testing ground for AI transformation, or AX, in manufacturing.

“Ulsan was also a strategically important industrial base for Korea in the past,” he said. “If it becomes a leading model, it has the potential to lead the spread of AI in Korea.”

During the forum, Chey also warned that the AI industry needs sustainable business models to support its massive investment.

“I am worried if we make huge investments, but there is not much return,” he said. “If all of humanity has put in this much energy, we need to create better business models and commercialize them.”

He said AI businesses must eventually generate their own revenue and reinvest it to achieve long-term sustainability.

The Ulsan Forum, launched in 2022, brings together SK Group, local industry and the community to discuss the region’s future. This year’s event drew more than 10,000 online and in-person participants.