On March 2nd (local time), SK Telecom CEO Yoo Young-sang held a press conference in Barcelona, Spain, ahead of the MWC 2025, revealing the company’s ‘AI Pyramid 2.0’ strategy. He emphasized that starting this year, SK Telecom aims to fully implement ‘profit-generating AI’. Yoo stated that the company is transitioning from the exploratory and expansion phases to securing substantial outcomes for its AI initiatives, contributing to strengthening the Korean AI ecosystem.
As a key business for the year, SK Telecom introduced its focus on tailored AI data centers. The company plans to provide comprehensive business models covering everything from design and construction to optimization of AI data centers, customized to fit the size of businesses, including startups and research institutions. Yoo mentioned plans to build a 100 MW data center with global big tech companies and aims to expand it to 1 GW, establishing a hub in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region.
SK Telecom positions itself as a key player within the SK Group’s AI leading group, implementing the ‘AI Pyramid 2.0’ strategy, which narrows down its focus to three main business areas. The first step involves laying down the basic AI data center infrastructure tailored to various business sizes while ensuring profitability. The strategy then expands into industry-specific AI applications and aims to offer consumer-perceivable AI services rivaling big tech companies.
This year, Yoo plans to concentrate on building the foundational layer of AI data centers. The expected demand is likely to come from sectors concerned with ‘data sovereignty’, tackling security issues for public institutions or companies with significant proprietary data.
During the event, Yoo also unveiled a modular AI data center strategy, particularly aimed at smaller startups. This approach allows for scalable, reusable, and cost-effective data centers, thanks to a partnership with technology firm ALICE.
Regarding participation in the government-driven national AI computing center initiative, Yoo commented that the conditions are strict, and SK Telecom’s participation would depend on alignment with its data center strategy. The government plans to establish a special purpose company with a 51% public and 49% private ownership to build an AI computing center valued at approximately 2 trillion won.