Samsung SDS to invest $4.3b in AI data centers, M&A

Samsung SDS will use 6.4 trillion won (US$4.30 billion) in cash reserves for investments in AI data centers and acquisitions of industry-specific AI firms.

The company will prioritize capital expenditure and M&A as it shifts toward AI and cloud.

Samsung SDS to build AI data center and equip facilities with GPU servers for AI services.

The company said it posted 13.9 trillion won (US$9.35 billion) in sales and 957.1 billion won (US$643.90 million) in operating profit, with cloud contributing over 41% of its IT service sales.

Lee said the company will expand AI projects via an AX Center and strategic partnerships with global firms.

🔗 Source: Chosun Daily

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Samsung SDS lays out a clearer AI infrastructure plan

Three AI data centers sit inside a 3.7 trillion won (~$2.8 billion) program that builds separate capabilities 1.
Dongtan runs at 40 MW and targets high-performance computing, while Gumi reaches 60 MW and serves as a base for a GPU-as-a-Service business 1.
Haenam is planned as the site of the National AI Computing Center 1.
Funding does not rest only on Samsung SDS. The Haenam project is priced at about 2.5 trillion won to 2.9 trillion won and will run through a public-private joint venture called a special purpose company (SPC) 2.
Samsung SDS holds about 30% as the largest shareholder, with partners that include Naver Cloud (a cloud-computing unit of South Korea’s internet company Naver) at 26% and the government at 29% 2.
This build-out supports a move into cloud services beyond its traditional IT services role 1.

Samsung SDS borrows Palantir’s hands-on sales style

The data center push lets Samsung SDS sell AI in a new way, rather than relying on basic software licensing 3.
It uses a boot camp model similar to Palantir (a US enterprise software company known for selling data analytics platforms through hands-on deployments). Teams work on-site with business clients, built around its reseller agreement for ChatGPT Enterprise, to find use cases and make the value clear before a purchase 3.
A new AI Transformation (AX) Center runs the approach, with a focus on nailing down return on investment (ROI) for FabriX and Brity Copilot 3.
The shift comes after Samsung Electronics said it reacted slowly to the AI chip market and pushed a “do-or-die” mindset to regain technological leadership 4.