SK Telecom plans 15 gigawatts of AI data center capacity by 2035

SK Telecom is betting big on becoming Asia’s AI infrastructure backbone. The South Korean telecom giant plans to build up to 15 gigawatts of AI data center capacity by 2035, a scale so enormous it rivals the total power consumption of some small nations. The first phase, targeting 5 GW of capacity, is scheduled to begin operations in 2029. The Nvidia connection and the money behind it SK Telecom’s parent company, SK Group, and Nvidia announced a joint AI project on June 7, 2026. The partnership centers on leveraging Nvidia’s DSX platform to construct gigawatt-scale AI cloud infrastructure. SK Telecom has already spun up a dedicated subsidiary called SK Hyper, established in July 2026, to lead the data center initiative. The company’s board approved an initial investment of KRW 750 billion, roughly $506 million to $510 million, to be deployed by 2030. Projected costs for a single 1 GW-class facility are estimated at around KRW 70 trillion. The initial operations will be based in Ulsan, with planned expansions into the Chungcheong and Honam regions. SK Telecom filed a 6-K report on June 30, 2026, outlining the full 15 GW expansion roadmap and detailing expected involvement from strat...