B2N Acquires Land in Hwaseong for IDC Construction... "Preparing New Growth Engine"

Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist company B2N is officially starting to secure new growth engines.

B2N announced on the 23rd that it has signed a purchase contract for land in the Hwaseong area of Gyeonggi Province worth about 17 billion KRW through the special purpose company (SPC) AI Link, in partnership with its affiliate IOK Company. The land covers 46,900 square meters, equivalent to the size of seven soccer fields.

Since last year, B2N has been targeting the market for AI-integrated solutions and platform data. As part of this strategy, B2N and IOK each hold 60% and 40% stakes respectively in the newly established company AI Link, aiming to create synergy between the two companies.

This land purchase is a proactive response to the rapidly increasing demand for data centers due to the expansion of generative AI adoption and acceleration of cloud transition.

B2N is currently undertaking various projects including government-led AI training data construction, AI-based corporate finance platform development, personalized service data analysis, and big data platform construction. In particular, it is leading related quality management projects based on the country’s first AI training data quality management solution, 'SDQ for AI.'

B2N plans to prioritize completing all necessary permits and approvals for the construction of the IDC within two years. Earlier in May, the company announced plans to expand investment in AI technology using 12 billion KRW in operating funds.

Market research firm IDC forecasted that the global public cloud services market will reach 219.3 billion USD (approximately 305.1559 trillion KRW) by 2027. For the Asia-Pacific region, it predicted rapid growth in investments in public cloud services and software.

Yoo Ho-jung, CEO of B2N, stated, “The Hwaseong land purchase is a monumental first step in promoting the construction of the IDC and an essential project in preparation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. Through future-oriented data centers, which are the foundation of the cloud industry, we will develop competitive AI and big data businesses not only domestically but also globally.”