SKT inks global partnerships for AI data center business
SK Telecom is expanding into the fast-growing AI data center market through partnerships with emerging tech companies Supermicro and Lambda, the mobile carrier said Thursday.
An AI data center provides servers operating graphic processing units (GPUs) essential for AI learning and inference, power supply for stable operation and cooling systems. SK Telecom sees it as a crucial part of strengthening its AI infrastructure business, which it is strongly pursuing.
The Korean mobile carrier said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Supermicro at the MWC tech fair in Barcelona, Wednesday local time. Through the cooperation, Supermicro is expected to supply servers to SK Telecom’s AI data center.
Supermicro is one of the major partners of U.S. GPU chip giant Nvidia as it provides server and storage systems optimized for apps in various markets, including data centers, cloud computing, AI, 5G and edge computing. The company is recognized for its ability to build energy-saving and eco-friendly products, SK Telecom said.
Previously, on Feb. 21, SK Telecom announced its investment in Lambda to secure a stable supply of GPUs. Lambda provides cloud computing services by receiving Nvidia’s latest GPUs.
SK Telecom added it plans to sign an additional strategic partnership with Lambda for global business cooperation within the first half of this year with an aim to expand into the AI cloud computing market both domestically and globally.
Recently, many domestic companies have been combining their services and products with generative AI, and SKT predicts that demand in the AI cloud market will continue to increase. Based on the cooperation with Supermicro, SKT also plans to apply AI to advance its telecommunications business.
“The combination of AI data center and communication network can greatly increase the utilization of the telecommunications network,” an SK Telecom spokesperson said.
In the long term, the two companies agreed to cooperate on mounting the neural processing unit (NPU) chip of SK’s chip design unit Sapeon on the AI data center server supplied by Supermicro. They are also discussing selling Sapeon’s NPU servers in the global market through Supermicro’s global channels.