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Feb. 13 (Asia Today) — A vast stretch of reclaimed land in South Korea’s southwestern county of Haenam is being prepared for a government-backed artificial intelligence data center, part of a broader plan to build a new corporate city known as Solarisdo.

In Sani-myeon, where tidal flats once met the sea, construction vehicles have carved deep tracks into what was ocean just two decades ago. The site, now flattened and marked by a sign reading “Data Center,” is slated to host the National AI Computing Center by 2029.

The project is part of Jeollanam-do Province’s Solarisdo development, a 6.32 million-pyeong site – about 20.8 million square meters – envisioned as a self-sufficient city for more than 60,000 residents. The name combines “solar,” “sea” and “do,” the Korean word for province, reflecting its focus on renewable energy, waterfront development and smart-city infrastructure.

Provincial officials say the National AI Computing Center will operate as a high-performance computing hub under a public-private partnership, supporting artificial intelligence research and development.

While a groundbreaking date has not been finalized, an official said the center is scheduled to begin service in 2029.

The planned 40-megawatt facility is expected to use an average of 2.4 million liters of water per day for cooling. Jeollanam-do also aims to attract more than 20 additional data centers to the area, which could raise total daily water consumption to as much as 60 million liters – roughly equivalent to the daily water use of more than 200,000 people.

Provincial officials said the area has sufficient water resources, citing nearby Yeongam Lake, Geumho Lake and the Yeongsan River. They said average daily freshwater availability in the region reaches about 1 billion liters. Electricity demand will be addressed through a planned solar power plant and new substations in Solarisdo, officials said.

Local civic groups, however, voiced concern that large-scale data centers could deepen regional inequality and strain local resources.

An official with the Gwangju Environmental Movement Coalition said similar large industrial projects have prioritized national demand over local interests, citing the semiconductor complex in Yongin. The group questioned whether the data center would generate meaningful long-term employment and warned of added pressure on water and electricity supplies.

Jeollanam-do officials countered that the AI center is expected to create about 100 research and development jobs, including for graduates of local universities. They also said the project could attract startups and related companies, helping diversify the regional economy. Additional government support, including lower utility fees and rental assistance, may be needed to encourage investment, they added.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260213010005030

Musk says solar powered and space-based data centres are the only way to meet AI’s burgeoning energy demands.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has acquired his AI company xAI as part of an ambitious scheme to build space-based data centres to power the future of artificial intelligence.

The billionaire, who is also the CEO of Tesla, announced the merger in a statement on Tuesday on the SpaceX website.

Musk said the merger will help to address the emerging question of how to meet the power-hungry demands of artificial intelligence.

AI demand will require “immense amounts of power and cooling” that are not sustainable on Earth without “imposing hardship on communities and the environment,” he said.

Space-based data centres that harness the power of the Sun are the only long-term solution, according to Musk.

“In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale. To harness even a millionth of our Sun’s energy would require over a million times more energy than our civilisation currently uses!” he wrote.

“The only logical solution therefore is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space,” he continued, predicting that within the next “2 to 3 years, the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space”.

The merger of SpaceX and xAI will bring several of Musk’s space, artificial intelligence, internet, and social media projects under one roof.

SpaceX operates the Falcon and Starship rocket programmes, while xAI is best known for developing the AI-powered Grok chatbot. Last year, xAI also acquired X, the social media platform known as Twitter, until it was bought by Musk in late 2022.

Both companies have major contracts with US government agencies such as NASA and the Department of Defense .

SpaceX’s Starshield unit specifically collaborates with government entities, including military and intelligence agencies.

Musk is not the only tech CEO looking to space as a solution to AI’s energy quandary.

Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Google’s Project Suncatcher are both working on solar-powered space-based data centres.

“In the history of spaceflight, there has never been a vehicle capable of launching the megatons of mass that space-based data centres or permanent bases on the Moon and cities on Mars require,” Musk wrote.

Musk also said his long-term plan for SpaceX is to launch a million satellites.

To achieve this aim, SpaceX’s Starship rocket programme aims to one day launch one flight per hour with a 200-tonne payload, he said.

Musk said Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX that offers satellite-based internet service, will soon get a major boost with the launch of SpaceX’s next generation of V3 satellites.

They will each add “more than 20 times the capacity to the constellation as the current Falcon launches of the V2 Starlink satellites”, he wrote.

Jan. 31 (Asia Today) — Harold Rogers, interim chief executive of Coupang Korea, was questioned for more than 12 hours by police over allegations that the company destroyed evidence during an internal probe into a massive personal data leak.

Rogers arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at about 2 p.m. Thursday and left around 2:22 a.m. Friday. He declined to answer reporters’ questions, including whether he acknowledged the evidence destruction allegations, how the company determined that about 3,000 users were affected, and why he had not appeared for questioning earlier.

Before entering police headquarters, Rogers said Coupang had “fully cooperated with all government investigations and will continue to do so,” adding that the company would also cooperate with the police probe.

Police are investigating whether Coupang conducted an unauthorized “self-investigation” after the data breach and destroyed evidence in the process. The company allegedly analyzed a suspect’s laptop without prior consultation with authorities and publicly announced its own findings, including the estimated scope of the leak.

Investigators reportedly questioned Rogers about Coupang’s actions, including allegedly contacting the data leak suspect in China without police knowledge, retrieving the laptop, and conducting forensic analysis independently.

Attention has also focused on whether Rogers will leave South Korea. Police applied for a travel ban against him after his entry on Jan. 21, but prosecutors rejected the request. Rogers previously left the country earlier this month after completing a two-day schedule of National Assembly hearings.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260131010014003