This Year, Choi Tae-won Met AI Big Shots 7 Times... Will Choi Tae-won's AI Save SK?

So far this year, Chey Tae-won has mentioned AI more than 10 times in official settings
SK Group aims to ride the AI growth wave

Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, has positioned AI (artificial intelligence) as the group's core focus and is pursuing a path dedicated solely to AI. This year alone, he has engaged in AI-related activities more than ten times, and both the group’s and Chairman Choi’s future schedules are entirely centered on AI.

Choi Tae-won Meets AI Big Shots Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Wei Zhejia... Seven Times This Year

According to business circles on the 5th, Chairman Choi has emphasized AI competitiveness at least ten times in official settings since the beginning of this year, starting with the world’s largest electronics and IT exhibition, CES 2024. Notably, he has met with AI "big shots" seven times to discuss cooperation and strategy. SK Group recently underwent rebalancing (business restructuring) to streamline overlapping affiliates and investments within the group, focusing on selection and concentration. SK executives agreed on transforming the group’s structure through "operational improvement" and securing investment capacity centered on AI.

Since early this year, Chairman Choi has highlighted the potential of the AI industry while contemplating the group’s direction. At a press conference held at CES in January, he said, "AI marks the beginning of a new era, and it is impossible to predict the extent of its impact and speed." He added, "Since the emergence of ChatGPT, breakthroughs have occurred, and everyone is trying to ride this wave." A breakthrough refers to solving and succeeding in technically challenging problems in projects such as computer system development. The biggest concerns and hopes Chairman Choi has revealed at various exhibitions and meetings since then have stemmed from AI.

The key figures in the AI industry that Chairman Choi has met this year are all market-leading giants. Starting with a meeting with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who visited Korea in January, he subsequently met Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, and Wei Zhejia, chairman of TSMC. During a business trip to the U.S. in June, he met Altman again, as well as Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, and Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel. Chairman Choi is strengthening AI alliances with these companies by leveraging competitiveness in high-bandwidth memory (HBM). During the U.S. trip, he expressed excitement, saying, "Here, where the heartbeat of the massive AI wave pulses, unprecedented opportunities are visible."

Photo of SK Hynix's high-bandwidth memory product HBM3E [Image source=Yonhap News]

SK Group Riding the AI Revolution

SK Group’s strategy is to ride the growth wave of the "AI revolution" triggered by the emergence of generative AI such as ChatGPT. Generative AI is transforming not only daily life but also the entire industrial sector, changing manufacturing and service processes including product design improvement, process optimization, and quality control. According to research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global AI market size is expected to grow about ninefold from $150.2 billion (approximately 200 trillion KRW) last year to $1.3452 trillion (approximately 1,800 trillion KRW) by 2030. The global AI market’s compound annual growth rate is projected to reach 36.8%.

SK Group plans to secure an additional 80 trillion KRW in funding by 2026 and invest 103 trillion KRW over the next five years in AI and semiconductor fields, centered on SK Hynix’s HBM. Additionally, SK Telecom and SK Broadband will invest about 3.4 trillion KRW over five years to build AI data center infrastructure, anticipating explosive demand.

The merger of SK Group’s leading energy affiliates, SK Innovation and SK E&S, is also a strategy to create synergy in building energy infrastructure for AI data centers. Since AI data centers consume massive amounts of electricity, sustainable operation requires eco-friendly energy production, supply, and storage solutions. SK Group is combining the strengths of SK Innovation and SK E&S to build its portfolio.

Based on this technological capability, SK Group plans to strengthen its AI semiconductor competitiveness and package AI services such as SK Telecom’s "A.Dot" with energy storage systems (ESS) and renewable energy solutions to supply markets like North America, where the AI revolution is underway.

These plans will play a crucial role in SK Group securing global competitiveness in AI and energy sectors and growing in step with the AI revolution era. By providing solutions that sustainably meet the energy demands of AI data centers while maximizing efficiency, SK Group aims to achieve both sustainable development and technological innovation simultaneously.

Professor Lee Jeong-hee of the Department of Economics at Chung-Ang University said, "Chairman Choi has identified AI as the group’s future growth engine based on SK Hynix’s AI memory competitiveness. Concentrating the group’s capabilities related to AI, including energy and platforms, is a decisive move by the group owner at a critical time, reflecting his insight into the new era’s trends."