Chey Tae-won tours Ulsan AI data center, SK Innovation complex

SK Group said Thursday that Chairman Chey Tae-won would visit SK AI Data Center Ulsan and SK Innovation's Ulsan CLX complex in succession as part of on-site management activities.

Joining him that day were top executives from major SK affiliates, including SK Innovation President Jang Yong-ho, SK Telecom President Jeong Jae-heon, SK Gas President Yoon Byung-suk, SK Enmove President Kim Won-ki, SK Energy and SK Geocentric President Kim Jong-hwa, SK Broadband President Kim Sung-soo, and SK Ecoplant President Kim Young-sik.

This marks Chey's first domestic AX-focused on-site visit since he declared a management transformation centered on AI transition, or AX, at the New Icheon Forum in June.

SK AI Data Center Ulsan is the first site in SK Group's nationwide project to build 15 GW of AI infrastructure. The company is developing the facility together with Amazon Web Services, aiming to bring it online by the end of next year. The data center construction alone will cost 7 trillion won ($5.23 billion).

The data center will feature an AI-optimized computing architecture built around high-performance GPUs and hybrid cooling systems, delivering higher performance and efficiency than conventional data centers. SK plans to mobilize capabilities across the group during construction, drawing on SK Telecom, SK Broadband, SK Chemicals, SK hynix and SK AX. The company also aims to expand SK AI Data Center Ulsan into a GW-scale facility and eventually build an AI data center cluster of more than 2 GW across the wider Yeongnam region.

Chey also plans to visit SK Innovation's Ulsan CLX to review the progress of AX efforts there and encourage employees. Ulsan CLX serves as SK Innovation's key manufacturing AX site, applying AI to refining and chemical processes to simultaneously optimize operations, strengthen safety management and improve energy efficiency.

Ulsan CLX's goal is what the company calls a "dual brain" system, an integrated operating structure that combines AI-driven, data-based judgment with decades of engineering experience accumulated on-site. Under this approach, AI continuously monitors and analyzes all processes and equipment across the complex — which covers 8.25 million square meters — around the clock. Human judgment then guides swift responses. The model is expected to serve as a template that could later be applied to other manufacturing sites.

SK's strategy is to build a value chain that starts with semiconductors and extends to infrastructure spanning AI data centers, energy and services. The chain ultimately reaches manufacturing AX, where such technology is applied at actual industrial sites.

"This is an opportunity to check firsthand how SK Group's commitment to accelerating AX is being realized across the entire AI full stack," an SK official said. "We will thoroughly examine every area, from semiconductors and AI infrastructure to manufacturing AX, and lead the way as an AI full-stack provider."

Chey is also expected to attend the Ulsan Forum, jointly hosted by SK Group and the Ulsan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at the Ulsan Exhibition & Convention Center on Friday. He personally attended the forum for three consecutive years, from its inaugural year in 2022 through 2024.