SK Telecom (environmental, social, and governance) is investing $200 million in Smart Global Holdings (SGH), a company specializing in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The investment will give SK Telecom an equity stake in SGH. The two companies plan to work together to improve their customer offerings.
In a joint statement, both companies stated that they want to use their complementary capabilities. They aim to develop differentiated global end-to-end AI factory and data center solutions, advanced memory market products, and NPU-based AI Edge servers. SGH is based in California.
It offers a variety of platforms and services for HPC, AI, machine learning, fault-tolerant computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Its Penguin Solutions business, acquired in 2018, provides integrated AI data center solutions. This includes designing AI clusters with large-scale GPU servers, data center deployment, and operational expertise.
Mark Adams, CEO of SGH, is enthusiastic about the strategic partnership.
Investment in high-performance computing
Today’s announcement is a testament to Penguin Solutions’ capabilities in deploying AI factories at scale through our systems, software, and managed services suite of solutions.
We look forward to executing these strategic collaboration opportunities with the SKT team and believe they will create value for our respective stakeholders.”
SK Telecom will receive 200,000 preferred shares in SGH as part of the investment. These shares can be converted to ordinary shares at a future date at a price of $32.81 each. This move is part of SK Telecom’s broader strategy to expand its AI portfolio.
Last year, the company invested $100 million in the firm behind the Claude large language models. Earlier this year, it participated in a $320 million Series C funding round for Lambda Labs, another AI company. Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom, emphasized the strategic importance of this investment.
“Our investment in and cooperation with SGH will allow us to boost our position in the AI value chain. In the era of AI transformation, we plan to continue collaborating and making proactive investments to achieve global leadership in AI.”
This collaboration between SK Telecom and SGH marks a significant step in the advancements of HPC and AI technologies. It promises enhanced solutions and services for a broad spectrum of industries.
