SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won (최태원) is personally checking the execution status of the group's AI transition. SK Group said Choi will visit SK AI Data Center Ulsan and SK Innovation's UlsanCLX on Sept. 10 for on-site management. He will review progress in implementing its "AI full-stack provider" strategy, spanning AI infrastructure construction and AI transformation (AX) in manufacturing operations.

The move comes three months after Choi declared an "AX-centered management overhaul" at the New Icheon Forum in June. He is joined at the sites by key affiliate chief executives, including Jang Yong-ho (장용호), head of SK Innovation, Jeong Jae-heon (정재헌), CEO of SK Telecom, Yoon Byeong-seok (윤병석), CEO of SK Gas, and Kim Won-gi (김원기), CEO of SK Enmove. Kim Jong-hwa (김종화), CEO of SK Energy and SK Geo Centric, Kim Seong-su (김성수), CEO of SK Broadband, and Kim Young-sik (김영식), CEO of SK Ecoplant, are also accompanying him.

The first site Choi visited is SK AI Data Center Ulsan, the largest AI-dedicated data center of its kind outside the Seoul metropolitan area. Major group affiliates, including SK Telecom, SK Broadband, SK Chemical, SK Hynix and SK AX, are participating in force to pool their capabilities there.

It is the first project site in SK Group's AI infrastructure plan being pursued at a total capacity of 15 GW. It is being built with AWS (Amazon Web Services) and aims to begin operations by the end of 2027. SK Group has set a plan to expand the data center to the gigawatt level and build an AI data center cluster of more than 2 GW across the Yeongnam region.

The next stop is UlsanCLX, SK Innovation's core manufacturing AX site. By applying AI to refining and chemical processes, the site pursues process optimisation, safety management and improved energy efficiency at the same time. Choi reviewed the AX status there and encouraged employees.

UlsanCLX is pursuing a "dual brain" strategy, an integrated operating system that combines AI for data-driven decisions with engineers' experience accumulated over decades. Under the approach, AI detects and analyses all processes and facilities around the clock across the entire 2.5 million pyeong site, while people make judgments and respond. It is expected to become an execution model that can be applied to other manufacturing sites. Linking that to manufacturing AX after establishing AI data center, energy and service infrastructure with semiconductors as a starting point appears to reflect SK Group's determination to fully execute its proposed "AI full-stack provider" strategy through value-chain building.

An SK Group official said the visit was an occasion to directly inspect on the ground how SK Group's determination to accelerate AX is being implemented across the entire AI full-stack. The official said the group would "closely examine every area, from semiconductors and AI infrastructure to AX at manufacturing sites, and will take the lead in strengthening its position as an 'AI full-stack provider.'"