AI Hardware

SKT Invests $200M in Smart Global in AI push

SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier by membership, signed a contract to invest $200 million in Smart Global Holdings, a US company specializing in data center integration solutions.

By Priya Khosla July 17, 2024

Source: The Korean Herald

This marks the telecom giant’s largest investment in the artificial intelligence sector. With this investment, the amount SKT has invested in the AI sector since last year surpasses $300 million.

The Korean telecom carrier decided to invest in Smart Global Holdings in response to the increasing demand for professional AI data center solutions, driven by the need for large quantities of GPUs for developing large language models and the growing complexity of building AI clusters.

The two firms plan to enter into a collaboration this year that emphasizes establishing more concrete cooperation across the AI infrastructure business, including AI data centers, edge AI and future memory solutions.

“We are thrilled to have SK Telecom as a strategic investor,” Smart Global Holdings CEO Mark Adams said. “We look forward to executing these strategic collaboration opportunities with the SK Telecom team and believe it will create value for our respective stakeholders.”

“Our investment in and cooperation with Smart Global Holdings allow us to boost our position in the AI value chain,” SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang said. “In the era of AI transformation, we plan to continue to collaborate and make proactive investments to achieve global leadership in AI.”

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