SK Telecom (SKT) announced a $200 million investment in SMART Global Holdings (SGH) on July 16. SKT signed a $200 million convertible preferred stock investment agreement with SGH and plans to secure approximately a 10% stake through future conversions to common stock. Additionally, SKT and SGH will collaborate in AI infrastructure business.
SMART Global Holdings, headquartered in Silicon Valley, specializes in AI data center solutions, covering the entire process from designing to building and operating AI clusters composed of thousands of GPUs. Their expertise includes designing AI clusters, installing and optimizing servers, racks, networks, and storage, as well as monitoring and maintaining these clusters. SGH also operates in edge solutions tailored for industrial applications and memory module businesses. The company went public on NASDAQ in 2017 and recorded revenues of approximately $1.44 billion last year.
SGH is recognized as one of the few companies globally that have built large-scale AI clusters, with a cumulative GPU installation reaching 75,000 units. In 2023, SGH constructed Meta’s Research Super Cluster, comprising 16,000 GPUs, which was then the largest AI cluster in the world.
Both companies plan to further formalize their partnership this year, aiming to solidify their collaboration across AI data centers, edge AI, and future memory solutions within the AI infrastructure business sector.