SK Telecom's AI data centre infrastructure, the Haein cluster, has obtained Cloud Security Assurance Program (CSAP) certification. It is the first time in South Korea that an AI cloud provider based on Blackwell GPUs has received CSAP certification.

SKT said on Sunday the Haein cluster obtained certification in the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) category under CSAP, overseen by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA).

CSAP is a system under which the government verifies the security of cloud services used by public institutions. The Haein cluster met security standards required for public cloud services, including network separation and data isolation.

Haein is an AI data centre infrastructure that configures a single cluster with more than 1,000 Nvidia Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs). It links multiple GPUs into one to handle large-scale computing, and is being used as training infrastructure for a government-led independent AI foundation model project.

SKT explained that the certification secured the GPU cluster's security and technical reliability. It emphasised that the Haein cluster passed the security standards while being used for an actual government AI project.

SKT plans to expand its AI infrastructure business for the public and financial sectors based on the Haein cluster. It also aims to strengthen its position in the sovereign AI cloud market, which it builds and operates independently using domestic data and infrastructure.

Kim Myeong-guk (김명국), head of SKT's AI Factory business, said, "The Haein cluster became established as sovereign AI infrastructure as the first Blackwell GPU-based AI cloud provider to receive CSAP certification." He added, "We will continue to increase our contribution in the public infrastructure sector."