SK Group and Nvidia announced a joint project to build a dedicated AI factory equipped with 50,000 GPUs.

SK Group is establishing a "manufacturing AI cloud" leveraging Nvidia's Omniverse platform to reinforce its competitiveness in the manufacturing sector while supporting related startup ecosystems. This initiative forms part of a broader AI factory that includes an AI data center project in Ulsan, creating an AI industrial cluster based on Nvidia GPUs. SK Group is advancing a hyperscale AI data center project in Ulsan targeting 100 megawatts by 2027, with plans to establish the site as a major Asia-Pacific AI hub.

SK hynix, the group's key affiliate and a leading global memory chip-maker, will implement digital twin technology across its semiconductor manufacturing lines. By creating virtual replicas of its production systems, SK hynix aims to improve yield rates, enable predictive maintenance and enhance operational efficiency while significantly reducing costs. SK hynix is the exclusive supplier of HBM3, the fourth-generation high-bandwidth memory used in AI chips, and accounts for roughly 75 percent of the global supply of the next-generation HBM3E.

Nvidia's partnership reflects the US tech giant's broader vision to democratize access to high-performance GPU-based computing tools, supporting startups in the manufacturing sector that currently lack access to such resources and helping drive innovation and lower barriers to entry. SK Telecom additionally signed a memorandum of understanding with Nvidia to jointly research and develop AI network technologies, specifically AI-RAN, a key technology for sixth-generation mobile communications. AI-RAN enables the rapid, low-latency transmission of AI data generated by various devices across wireless networks, with plans to validate, standardize and commercialize the technology to establish Korea as a global hub for AI-RAN technology verification.

SK Group Chair Chey Tae-won stated: "SK Group's collaboration with Nvidia is making AI the driving force for innovation across Korea's industrial landscape. Through this partnership, we expect to unlock new possibilities in scale, speed and precision for all sectors. Leveraging the Nvidia AI factory, SK Group will establish a next-generation infrastructure to power advances in memory, robotics, digital twins and intelligent AI agents." Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said: "In the era of AI, a new kind of manufacturing plant has emerged: the AI factory. SK Group is a vital memory technology partner, helping Nvidia create the world's most advanced GPU computing platforms that power global AI progress. We are delighted to partner with SK to build its AI foundation on Nvidia-accelerated computing and software, creating AI factories that will transform SK and energize Korea's AI ecosystem."

Following the APEC CEO Summit in Gyeongju, Chey held a separate meeting with Huang, during which the two reaffirmed their longstanding business friendship. Huang gifted Chey a bottle of Japanese Hakushu 25-year-old single malt whisky and Nvidia's DGX AI system, a high-performance computing platform symbolizing the company's cutting-edge capabilities. In return, Chey presented Huang with a semiconductor wafer produced by SK hynix engraved with the message: "The world's best HBM4 product by SK hynix," highlighting the memory chip-maker's leadership in the high-bandwidth memory solutions essential for AI infrastructure.