GS is building a technology ecosystem to develop artificial intelligence (AI) data centers as a future growth engine for the group. The company plans to integrate new technologies from startups in memory, cooling, and cloud sectors with its existing capabilities in power and construction, thereby expanding its business scope across the entire AI data center value chain.
On September 15, GS Ventures hosted the '2026 GS Ventures Tech Day' at GS Tower in Gangnam, Seoul.
This year's event focused on AI data centers. Seven startups, including six portfolio companies invested in by GS Ventures, presented their related technologies and explored collaboration opportunities with group affiliates.
GS has been actively discovering and investing in startups across various sectors, including power and energy, semiconductors and memory, cooling, and cloud, through GS Ventures. The Tech Day was designed to leverage the accumulated network and investment experience to identify new opportunities in the AI data center field.
Attendees included GS Chairman Huh Tae-soo, key executives, and officials from affiliates such as GS Energy, GS Caltex, GS Construction, GS E&R, and GS Global, along with representatives from participating startups.
The technologies showcased by the participating companies covered key areas of AI data centers, from power stabilization to GPU cloud operations. In the power sector, Synergy presented solutions to enhance the stability and energy efficiency of power supply for AI data centers. Vincen introduced a hydrogen fuel cell solution for data centers, based on technology accumulated in the shipping and maritime sectors.
In the memory sector, Exyna unveiled intelligent memory based on Compute Express Link (CXL) to alleviate data processing bottlenecks. In the cooling sector, Coolmicro and SDT presented their respective solutions: a Direct-to-Chip liquid cooling system that directly contacts semiconductor cooling plates to dissipate heat, and an immersion cooling system that submerges servers in an insulating cooling liquid to cool them down.
In the operations sector, Elisk Group showcased a modular AI data center, while Vessel AI presented GPU cloud technology specialized for AI computation tasks.
Following the presentations, networking sessions took place between GS affiliate business representatives and the startups. Dohyun Soo, CEO of GS AI Infrastructure, the dedicated corporation for AI data center business, and other staff participated to discuss the applicability of the technologies and potential business linkages. GS plans to review the feasibility of technology validation and business application through follow-up discussions.
GS is advancing its AI data center business to meet the rapidly growing demand for AI infrastructure. The company aims to gradually complete a 1.2GW data center in Donghae, Gangwon Province, starting in 2028, with plans to add another 1.2GW, bringing the total to 2.4GW.
Chairman Huh Tae-soo stated, "The innovative technologies of startups can be the key to resolving technical bottlenecks in AI data centers. We will expand the intersection between GS and startups to jointly develop the domestic AI data center technology ecosystem."
Meanwhile, GS recently finalized specific investment plans for its AI data center business. According to a disclosure on September 14, the company plans to invest approximately 15 trillion won in the first phase of the Donghae AI data center, which will have a capacity of 1.2GW. The investment will be financed through project financing and equity, with the current plan indicating that about 20% will come from equity.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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