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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] A massive 3-gigawatt (GW) AI data center project is being planned in South Korea, with an estimated investment of up to $35 billion (approximately KRW 50 trillion), according to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on Tuesday (local time).
The proposed data center would be three times larger than the facility under construction in Texas as part of OpenAI and SoftBank’s Stargate project, which is currently one of the largest in the world.
The project is reportedly led by an investment group called 'Stock Farm Road,' co-founded by Brian Koo, grandson of LG Group’s founder, and Amin Badr-El-Din, CEO and founder of BADR Investments, based in London and Jordan.
While the exact location was not disclosed, WSJ stated that the data center is planned for the southwestern region of South Korea, far from Seoul, with Jeollanam-do being a likely candidate after investors signed an agreement with local authorities to secure power and water resources.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2024, with completion aimed for 2028. However, global supply chain challenges and the ongoing shortage of NVIDIA AI chips could potentially delay the project beyond 2028, the report noted.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)