South Korea says SK and Amazon to invest $5bln in country's biggest data centre
The AI data centre, which will be the country's largest, will break ground in September and be fully operational with a capacity of 100 megawatts by 2029, the ministry said in a statement.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said he planned to expand the data centre's capacity to one gigawatt in the future and make it a global hub that handles domestic AI demand during a meeting attended by President Lee Jae Myung and tech CEOs.
Artificial intelligence was crucial for South Korea's growth, he said.
"It may set a good example that South Korea's high-tech industry is possible not only in the metropolitan area but also in the provinces," Lee said.
South Korea's AI-related stocks on Friday extended a rally on policy optimism, with SK Hynix rising more than 3%, Kakao surging 11%, and LG CNS gaining 9%, leading the benchmark KOSPI above a key milestone of 3,000 points for the first time in 3-1/2 years.
The official announcement follows media reports earlier this month that SK Group and Amazon Web Services were building a data centre in South Korea.
($1 = 1,368.7600 won)
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim and Jihoon Lee Editing by Ed Davies)
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