SK Telecom profits surge 67% as AI data center revenue doubles

SK Telecom is aggressively pivoting from a traditional connectivity provider to a vertically integrated AI infrastructure powerhouse. By separating AIDC operations into SK Hyper, the company can accelerate the specialized construction of 'token factories' designed for high-density compute rather than standard storage. This shift addresses the global shortage of AI-ready capacity and positions South Korea as a primary regional hub for Asian AI workloads. For the streaming and media ecosystem, this buildout provides the localized, low-latency infrastructure required for next-generation generative video and real-time AI personalization. Watch for the completion of the 1GW Ulsan cluster as a benchmark for SK Hyper’s execution speed and its ability to attract global enterprise tenants.

The formation of SK Hyper follows years of aggressive investment in the AI stack. Per SK Telecom announcements in 2024 and 2025, the company’s 'AI Pyramid Strategy' has funneled capital into high-profile firms like Anthropic and Perplexity AI. These moves were paired with infrastructure deals, including a $20 million investment in U.S.-based GPU cloud provider Lambda to launch 'GPU-as-a-Service' (GPUaaS) in South Korea. By August 2024, SK Telecom and Lambda had already committed to installing Nvidia H100 and H200 clusters at the Gasan data center, which operates at nine times the power density of standard domestic facilities.

This infrastructure surge is part of a broader national initiative. Per Light Reading in July 2026, the South Korean government recently unveiled plans to build 18.5GW of AIDC capacity nationwide by 2035. SK Telecom’s 15GW target represents the lion's share of this sovereign AI ambition. To manage this scale, the operator established an AI 'Company-in-Company' (CIC) in late 2025, led by Chung Suk-geun, who now serves as the inaugural CEO of SK Hyper. This organizational restructuring reflects a industry-wide trend where telcos seek to move beyond 'dumb pipe' utility valuations toward higher-multiple tech platform status.

Furthermore, SK Telecom’s global footprint is expanding via the Global Telco AI Alliance. Per RCR Wireless in November 2025, the operator is collaborating with partners like Deutsche Telekom and e& to develop telco-specific large language models. The AIDC model pioneered in Ulsan is also being exported to Southeast Asia; SK Telecom signed a memorandum of understanding in 2025 to develop LNG-powered, energy-efficient data centers in Vietnam. These international linkages ensure that SK Hyper’s capacity will support both domestic sovereignty and a cross-border AI service mesh.