Seoul launches largest investment in AI: 1 trillion for chips and data centers

The South Korean government has presented a colossal plan, of value of over 1,000 billion euros in ten yearsto build semiconductor manufacturing plants and artificial intelligence data centers. An initial project, worth 800,000 billion won (455 billion euros), will include four semiconductor manufacturing plants, two built by the giant Samsung Electronics and the other two by its competitor SK Hynixas well as other infrastructure, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said.

New AI data centers and investment details

Another project, worth 1,000 billion won (568 billion euros), aims to build new data centers for AI by 2035bringing the country’s total capacity to 10 gigawatts (GW), Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon announced at the same press conference.

This is the third AI mega-investment announced in South Korea in less than a year, and by far the largest. This figure far exceeds the 450 trillion won promised by Samsung and the 125 trillion won announced by Hyundai Motor for the end of 2025. “Through this, we will maintain an overwhelming market leadership position and decisive technological advantage in the memory semiconductor industry,” Kim said.