AI NewsWaveSamsung SDS Breaks Ground on AI-Only Data Center in Gumi
Key points
- Samsung SDS breaks ground on AI data center in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province
- Designed to start at 60MW and expand to up to 120MW
- First result of the 60 trillion won Yeongnam investment plan
Samsung SDS has broken ground on the Gumi AI Data Center, an AI-only data center in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, and is starting full-scale construction. The company announced it on Nov. 2. AI Newspaper (인공지능신문), Digital Today, Kukmin Ilbo, Digital Daily, iNews24, Datanet, Tech M, Chosun Biz, The Elec and EBN reported the news.
The data center will sit on a site of about 14,000 pyeong in Gongdan-dong, Gumi. Chosun Biz and Datanet reported that the initial power capacity is 60MW (megawatts) and that it can expand to up to 120MW to meet growing AI demand. iNews24 wrote that it is designed to expand in stages to up to 120MW after completion at the end of 2028. AI Newspaper and iNews24 gave the completion date as the end of 2028 in their headlines, while Digital Today, Chosun Biz and Tech M gave it as 2028 in theirs. The investment figure of 427.3 billion won appears in the headlines of AI Newspaper and EBN (AI Newspaper writes it as 4,273 hundred million won), and Tech M described it as a data center backed by 427.3 billion won in funding.
Outlets stressed different purposes. AI Newspaper and Digital Daily reported that the facility targets the large computing demand needed for manufacturing and robot AI training. AI Newspaper explained that the strategy is to secure large-scale GPU (graphics processing unit) computing resources to meet demand for enterprise AI services and for robot training and automation at manufacturing sites. EBN wrote that the plan is to secure high-performance GPU-based computing infrastructure to serve outside customers and also support the manufacturing and robot automation businesses of Samsung affiliates. Datanet noted in its headline that the groundbreaking will accelerate the expansion of the cloud business.
On the investment background, Kukmin Ilbo and The Elec linked the project to the 60 trillion won Yeongnam investment plan the Samsung Group announced last July. Kukmin Ilbo described the data center as the first visible result of that plan, and The Elec wrote that the plan has taken its first step. Kukmin Ilbo reported that a groundbreaking ceremony for the Samsung SDS Gumi AI Data Center was held in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, on the 2nd.
Recent developments On the 29th, Samsung SDS reported preliminary third-quarter results for this year, with revenue of 3.7725 trillion won and operating profit of 241 billion won. According to Datanet, revenue rose 11.2% and operating profit rose 3.7% from a year earlier, with the external cloud business and the air and sea logistics business growing together. Chosun Biz reported that Samsung SDS will launch a GPU subscription service (GPUaaS) based on Nvidia's next-generation GPU "Vera Rubin" in Asia for the first time in March next year, and will also release a platform next year that manages robot training and operation in one place. Separately, LG CNS announced the same day that it completed construction of a 30MW AI data center in Jakarta, Indonesia. AI Newspaper reported that LG CNS secured customers equal to the full capacity before completion and is also pursuing a plan to expand to 400MW in the future.
Glossary MW (megawatt) is a unit of power, and 1MW equals 1,000kW. For data centers, it expresses the power capacity the facility can use. GPUaaS refers to a service that rents out GPUs on a subscription basis.