SK telecom Co. will collaborate with server and storage system manufacturer Super Micro Computer Inc. (Supermicro) for a global artificial intelligence (AI) data center business. The duo inked an agreement on Wednesday (local time) during the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, the South Korean company said.

Supermicro is a prominent company in the global AI industry whose stock price skyrocketed ninefold over the past year, SK telecom explained, while also collaborating with AI and graphics processing unit (GPU) company Nvidia Corp.

It will supply servers to SK telecom‘s AI data centers via the collaboration while SK Telecom plans to incorporate AI into its communication network alongside Supermicro, all of which aims to advance the intelligence and sophistication of future communication network edges.

The two companies also agreed to cooperate on the long-term strategy of incorporating AI chips from Sapeon Korea Inc., a SK telecom subsidiary, into Supermicro’s AI data center servers that will be provided to SK telecom. Discussions are also underway for the sale of Sapeon’s neural processing unit (NPU) servers via Supermicro’s global channels.

For its part, SK telecom announced its investment in GPU cloud company Lambda as part of its first global move for AI data center business during the previous week. With this investment, SK telecom expects to secure a stable source of GPUs that will drive the AI data center business.

The telecom carrier plans to secure a strategic partnership agreement with Lambda for global business cooperation within the first half of 2024 to enter the Korean and overseas AI cloud markets.

“By cooperating with Supermicro and Lambda, we expect our AI data center business to achieve significant results in 2024,” SK telecom Chief Executive Officer Ryu Young-sang said.

By Pulse

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