SK Group to transform all subsidiaries into AI companies

According to South Korean media Maeil Business Newspaper, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said at the group's 2026 CEO Seminar that SK must break away from its current frame and reposition itself as an AI company. Every subsidiary needs to find a new role and turn into an AI business.

Chey said the group's business should expand from AI semiconductors, infrastructure and energy into services, building an "AI flywheel" that links AI services with the token economy for steady growth. He also stressed that no company can do everything alone in the AI era, so global cooperation is essential.

The group's production sites have already started AI upgrades. SK Hynix is upgrading "smart factories" that combine AI with digital twin technology to make chips more efficiently. SK Innovation uses a "process map" that links equipment and operating data, and has improved the yield at its petrochemical complex in Ulsan, South Korea.