SK Hyper CEO Jeong Seokgeun: "Memory Capabilities, Revenue Structure to Drive Future AIDC Competitiveness"

KAIT Holds 'Digital Insight Forum'

Jeong Seokgeun, head of SK Telecom's AI CIC and CEO of SK Hyper. Provided by the Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT).

Jeong Seokgeun, head of SK Telecom's AI CIC and CEO of SK Hyper, said on October 8, "The key competitive factors for AI data centers (AIDCs) will be memory capabilities that can meet growing demand for large-scale inference, and business performance and revenue structures that enable continued investment."

The Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT) held the 16th Digital Insight Forum at Josun Palace, Seoul Gangnam, that morning, focusing on changes in the global AIDC industry and ways to strengthen South Korea's AI infrastructure competitiveness. About 60 people attended, including representatives from major domestic AI and digital companies, ICT-related organizations, academia, and government.

In his keynote address, Jeong said, "Until now, the key constraints on AIDCs have been securing graphics processing units (GPUs) and power, but that is set to change," adding that "the bottlenecks in the AI infrastructure industry are also shifting."

Jeong described data centers in the AI era as "AI token factories," explaining that AIDCs are evolving beyond facilities for storing and processing data into critical industrial infrastructure that continuously produces intelligence based on AI models. He predicted that AIDCs would become strategic assets shaping national industrial competitiveness and leadership in AI, as they are closely connected not only to semiconductors and power but also to various industries, including networking, construction, manufacturing, and finance.

"These changing bottlenecks could create new opportunities for South Korea," Jeong said. "South Korea has global competitiveness in memory semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and ICT infrastructure. By combining government support, private investment, and cross-industry cooperation, the country can grow into a key hub in the global era of 'AI token factories.'"

In his opening remarks, forum co-chair Choi Jaeyu, former second vice minister of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, said, "AIDCs are a multidisciplinary industry that requires the integration of capabilities across various sectors, including power, cooling, software, and networks, as well as semiconductors and servers. It is difficult for any one company to build an ecosystem with global competitiveness on its own." He stressed, "We must bring together South Korea's capabilities in semiconductors, power, ICT, and manufacturing into a single AIDC ecosystem and secure the competitiveness to export it as an integrated package."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.