SK Hyper seeks $350B to fund 5GW AI data center buildout in South Korea

SK Hyper Co., the AI data center development unit of SK Telecom, is negotiating with technology companies and financial investors to secure $350 billion for the first 5-gigawatt phase of a planned 15-gigawatt data center buildout in South Korea, targeting completion by 2035. CEO Jung Suk-keun told Bloomberg that the figure represents a proposed buildout cost, including equipment, rather than capital already raised or committed. SK Hyper intends to secure an initial round of outside capital between the end of this year and early next year, with additional fundraising over the following three to four years, and plans to share costs with data center tenants and outside investors. Acknowledging soured investor sentiment amid renewed debate over AI profitability and credit-risk concerns tied to data centers, Jung said SK Hyper will adjust its investment pace according to actual demand rather than executing the entire plan at once. SK Telecom is also building separate vehicles to operate existing data centers and develop new ones.

(Source：Vector Wire)