Choi Tae-won’s Global Aggressive Business Moves from the US to Europe

On-site Management in Silicon Valley, USA
Discussion of Cooperation in Germany and the Netherlands

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, is continuing his extensive global management activities, traveling across the United States, Europe, and Japan.

On the 8th and 9th (local time), Chairman Choi visited three affiliates and investment companies in succession, including SK Hynix Americas located in San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, as well as Gauss Labs and Luna Energy.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won emphasized the need for a Korea-Japan economic cooperation body at the '2023 Trans-Pacific Dialogue' held near Washington D.C., USA, on the 4th (local time). (Photo by SK Group)

Gauss Labs is SK’s first artificial intelligence (AI) research and development specialized company established in 2020, and Luna Energy is an energy storage system (ESS) specialized company jointly invested by SK and Sunrun, the number one residential solar installation company in the U.S.

On the 8th, Chairman Choi received a report on the business status related to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) at SK Hynix Americas and encouraged the employees. HBM is a high-performance DRAM that stacks multiple DRAM chips vertically to increase data processing speed compared to conventional DRAM and is considered a core component of AI semiconductors. Recently, SK Hynix established a dedicated ‘AI Infrastructure (Infra)’ organization through regular personnel changes and organizational restructuring, creating an 'HBM Business' organization that consolidates HBM-related capabilities and functions under it.

Chairman Choi urged, "Please respond flexibly by considering various factors, from changes in market dynamics beyond the existing business structure to geopolitical issues."

On the 9th, Chairman Choi visited Gauss Labs and Luna Energy in succession to carefully review their business status and market outlook. SK Hynix is introducing Gauss Labs’ AI solutions into semiconductor processes to improve production efficiency and yield.

At this occasion, Chairman Choi said, "When applying AI solutions to semiconductor manufacturing processes, it would be good to also incorporate large language models (LLM) and consider expanding the application to other fields beyond semiconductors in the future."

During his visit to Luna Energy, he requested, "In addition to the U.S. market, please keep in mind expansion into Europe, Africa, and other regions, and especially consider providing off-grid solutions for areas with poor power supply." Off-grid refers to a method of producing energy directly without receiving electricity, gas, or other energy from external sources.

Luna Energy, founded in 2020 by CEO Kunal Girotra, a former Tesla executive, has SK Corporation, SK Innovation, and SK E&S as joint investors. It provides residential ESS solutions that enable homeowners to produce, store, and consume clean energy directly.

After completing his schedule in the U.S., Chairman Choi will move directly to Europe to continue his management activities in Germany and the Netherlands.

On the 11th (local time), Chairman Choi will meet with Timotheus H?ttges, Chairman of Deutsche Telekom, in Germany to discuss global business cooperation plans. SK Telecom CEO Yoon Young-sang will also attend. Deutsche Telekom, together with SK Telecom and others, has announced plans to form a 'Global Telco AI Alliance' to create an AI personal assistant service covering approximately 1.2 billion people in 45 countries worldwide.

Following this, Chairman Choi will travel to the Netherlands to accompany President Yoon Suk-yeol on his state visit and visit the headquarters of ASML, a world-leading semiconductor equipment company. He also plans to visit SK Enmove Europe, located in Amsterdam, to encourage local employees.

An SK Group official said, "Chairman Choi’s year-end global management activities demonstrate his determination to directly oversee the group’s new growth businesses such as semiconductors, AI, and future energy in 2024 and to further accelerate the ‘global story.’"