The government is reviewing measures to provide support through the National Growth Fund for an artificial intelligence data center (AIDC) mega-project totaling 550 trillion won. With business viability secured through partnerships with Big Tech, observers expect public funding support to be actively pursued.
According to government sources on the 27th, the interagency comprehensive support task force for the AIDC mega-project, which began operating on the 14th of this month, is discussing support measures through the National Growth Fund. The task force includes the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Financial Services Commission. Since AIDC requires massive private investment, the task force is understood to be calculating the amount of funding that can be injected through the National Growth Fund. A senior government official said in a phone call with The Seoul Economic Daily, "If companies formally request funding support, we plan to cooperate actively."
The AIDC mega-project is being pursued by SK, GS, and Naver. In addition to the facility currently under construction in Ulsan, SK Group is searching for additional sites in regions including the central area, the Daegu-Gyeongbuk area, the Honam area, and Gangwon. GS Group is building an AIDC in Donghae, Gangwon Province, and Naver has decided to consider additional sites beyond Sejong. The total capacity of the AIDCs these companies will build in the first phase reaches 8.4 gigawatts (GW). The goal is to quickly complete the procedures required before construction and to begin operating the data centers from 2029. SK Telecom further has a long-term plan to expand its AIDC capacity to a cumulative 15 GW by 2035.
Expectations are rising that AIDC establishment plans will accelerate after global Big Tech companies committed to participating in the mega-project at the "San Francisco AI Summit" held on the 24th during President Lee Jae-myung's trip to the United States. SK Telecom has decided to pursue investment and cooperation with Anthropic on a GW-class AIDC project in Korea. Naver secured a 1 billion dollar (about 1.48 trillion won) equity investment from Nvidia of the United States. An industry official said, "For the AIDC project to sail smoothly, the most important thing is to form partnerships with demand companies that require large-scale capacity," adding, "Especially since the AIDCs are being built outside the greater Seoul area, establishing long-term cooperative relationships with Big Tech is essential."
Analysts note that building large-scale AI infrastructure outside the greater Seoul area also aligns with the National Growth Fund's support purpose. The government has set a policy of investing more than 40% of the National Growth Fund's supply in regional areas. Because AIDCs also require as much electricity as a city, it is the government's stance that they should be built in regional areas where power generation is relatively abundant. An information technology (IT) industry official said, "AIDC is a large-scale project in which not only IT companies but also AI chips and equipment providers participate as major suppliers," adding, "Considering the economic effects on upstream and downstream industries, there is a high likelihood that government funding support for the AIDC mega-project will be provided fully."
