Samsung SDS breaks ground on AI data center in Gumi, targeting up to 120 MW

Large-scale AIDC to rise on 46,200-square-meter site in Gongdan-dong

Latest technology applied for hyperscale operations, GPU server optimization

Colocation service to let customers install their own GPUs

Samsung SDS CEO Lee Jun-hee delivers a commemorative address at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gumi AI Data Center on Monday. [Samsung SDS]

Samsung SDS will build a dedicated AI data center in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, with a capacity of up to 120 MW — the first tangible result of Samsung Group's 60 trillion won ($44.9 billion) investment plan for the Yeongnam region announced in July.

The company said Tuesday it has broken ground on the Gumi AI Data Center and is moving forward with full-scale construction.

Designed to scale up to 120 MW in phases to meet surging AI demand, the facility will initially be built with a power capacity of 60 MW on a roughly 46,200-square-meter site in Gongdan-dong, Gumi. Construction has been under way since the city granted approval in August, with completion targeted for late 2028.

Samsung SDS described the groundbreaking as the first visible outcome of Samsung Group's Yeongnam investment plan.

Earlier, at a public presentation on the advanced-industry development vision for the Yeongnam region held at Gyeongsang National University in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province in July, Samsung committed about 60 trillion won to develop the area into a "global physical AI innovation cluster." The investment spans four areas: humanoid robots and AI data centers in Gumi, all-solid-state batteries in Ulsan, AI server package substrates and multilayer ceramic capacitors in Busan, and next-generation high-value-added vessels in Geoje.

Samsung SDS said the Gumi AI Data Center will serve as core infrastructure for the manufacturing and robotics automation industries, positioning the company to meet growing AI demand. The company also expressed its ambition to contribute to the national AI industry ecosystem in step with the government's three major megaprojects.

Samsung SDS designed the facility by drawing on 30 years of accumulated expertise in data center construction and operations. It will be built as a hyperscale data center capable of meeting future demand, with an operating environment optimized for AI and GPU-intensive services requiring high-power IT equipment.

A rendering of the Samsung SDS Gumi AI Data Center. [Samsung SDS]

To operate the hyperscale facility, Samsung SDS will apply the latest technology across its cooling and power infrastructure. The company has built out large-capacity power systems, redundant critical equipment and emergency power arrangements to handle the high electricity demands and heat output of high-performance GPU servers.

For thermal management inside server rooms, the center will use a combination of air cooling and liquid cooling. Air cooling will handle general server areas — such as networking and storage equipment — that generate relatively less heat, while liquid cooling, which circulates water to dissipate heat, will be applied to high-density GPU server zones where heat is concentrated.

Samsung SDS also highlighted the center's ability to accommodate a wide range of AI systems rather than being limited to specific GPU types. In addition to running its own GPU infrastructure as a managed service, the company plans to offer a colocation service that lets customers install and operate their own GPUs on-site.

The company also plans to use the Gumi AI Data Center actively to support Samsung affiliates. Linked to the manufacturing robotics transformation projects that Samsung affiliates have been accelerating, the center will play a central role in areas requiring large-scale computation — such as AI training for precision manufacturing robots.

"Amid AI reshaping the competitiveness of industries, the Gumi AI Data Center will take on the role of processing vast amounts of data and running AI stably," Samsung SDS CEO Lee Jun-hee said. "We will bring together our accumulated experience in building and operating data centers, along with our cloud and AI technology capabilities, to create AI infrastructure that customers can trust and rely on."

chami@heraldcorp.com