SK Telecom is partnering with Japan's NTT and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom to create a $500 million joint fund to invest in promising companies in the AI infrastructure and service sectors.

On the 10th, SK Telecom held a press conference with NTT and Chunghwa Telecom at NTT's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, and announced the joint establishment of the 'IOWN AI Fund' to invest in next-generation AI technology companies. The fund is expected to be worth $500 million, or approximately 760 billion KRW.

The three companies are establishing a global investment framework by founding Catalite Capital, a fund management company based in Silicon Valley and East Asia. Investment targets are AI-related startups in North America, Asia, and Europe.

The fund targets AI data center infrastructure, AI semiconductors, AI service applications, distributed cloud systems, inference optimization software, and optical communication technology as its major investment areas. In particular, technologies related to AI data centers, where power efficiency and data transmission performance are critical, are expected to be the core investment pillar.

The participating companies plan to go beyond simple capital investment and jointly support the invested companies in technology verification, service enhancement, and customer acquisition. The plan is to use this to support the commercialization of invested companies and to link it with each company's AI infrastructure and service businesses.

According to NTT, about 20 global companies, including Sony and Toshiba, have expressed interest in contributing to the fund. SK Hynix is also reportedly preparing to participate.

This fund was launched amidst a trend where AI competition is expanding beyond model development into foundational technology areas such as data centers, semiconductors, and networks. It is interpreted as a strategy to increase influence in the AI infrastructure ecosystem by combining the network operational capabilities of telecommunications companies with semiconductor and optical communication technologies.

With the establishment of this fund, SK Telecom plans to expand cooperation among Korean, Japanese, and East Asian companies in the fields of AI data centers and B2B and B2C AI services. The industry is watching closely to see if this collaboration will lead to future investment in AI infrastructure, technology verification, and the commercialization of services.