SK Group and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services are teaming up to invest roughly 7 trillion won ($5.11 billion), including a $4 billion AWS stake, in South Korea’s biggest AI data centre, breaking ground in Ulsan this September and targeting 100 MW by 2029.The Science Ministry confirmed that the SKAWS partnership will build a sprawling compute campus in Ulsan, set to begin construction in September 2025. Initial capacity will hit 100 megawatts by 2029, making it the largest AI-focused facility in the country.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, speaking alongside President Lee Jae Myung and leading tech CEOs, pledged to eventually expand the site to one gigawatt and position Ulsan as a global AI hub serving domestic demand. Following the announcement, SK Hynix shares climbed about 4% in Seoul trading, while Amazon’s U.S. premarket listing remained flat.Anchoring major AI infrastructure in Ulsan aligns with Seoul’s push to decentralize high-tech investment and foster regional innovation. A home-grown data centre reduces reliance on foreign cloud nodes and could catalyse new AI startups, research partnerships, and talent clusters outside traditional tech centres.
As the Ulsan campus scales toward gigawatt power, its performance will test the viability of mega-scale AI hubs outside established tech corridors.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.