New york: President Lee Jae Myung met with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in New York to discuss cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) and renewable energy, aiming to position South Korea as Asia's AI hub.
According to Yonhap News Agency, during the meeting, Fink pledged to collaborate with South Korea to make it the "AI capital in Asia" by attracting global investment, as stated by Ha Jung-woo, senior presidential secretary for AI policy and future planning. Lee welcomed the envisioned partnership with BlackRock, the world's largest asset management firm, as part of his government's initiative to establish the nation as the region's AI hub and expressed hope for practical cooperation in the sector, Ha told reporters.
Following the talks, the Ministry of Science and ICT signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BlackRock on a global partnership in the AI industry. The MOU calls for cooperation on building infrastructure to meet rising AI demand, renewable energy initiatives, and a comprehensive approach to expanding AI capabilities. It also envisions building hyperscale AI data centers in South Korea to serve domestic and regional demand, paving the way for the country to join the Global AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP) while preparing large-scale investment plans over the next five years.
Ha stated, "To meet the rapidly growing demand for AI in South Korea, the two sides agreed to explore an integrated approach that combines data centers with renewable energy generation and storage facilities while seeking possibilities to develop a global model based on this framework." Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), BlackRock's subsidiary focused on infrastructure investment in data centers and energy transformation, also attended the meeting.
The presidential office did not specify the scale of investment but noted it was expected to reach several trillion won, citing BlackRock's assets under management of about US$12.5 trillion. The science ministry and BlackRock will soon set up a task force to draft action plans for a pilot investment worth several trillion won, leaving open the possibility for Korean companies to join the proposed global investment fund.