GPUs delivered, however energy infrastructure stays the actual check

Park Su-ryon
 
The creator is the business information desk head on the JoongAng Ilbo.


 
 
From fried hen to Nvidia’s newest Blackwell GPUs, Jensen Huang was deliberate. Returning to Korea for the primary time in 15 years, the Nvidia CEO opened with an surprising scene — inviting third-generation chaebol leaders to a fried hen store close to Seoul’s Samseong Station — and adopted it by asserting that Nvidia would prioritize the supply of 260,000 GPUs to Korea. The enthusiastic reception he obtained over two days made clear the place the decision-making energy lay. GPUs have turn out to be so scarce that even patrons should thank the vendor for permitting the acquisition.
 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks in the course of the Stay Keynote Pregame in the course of the Nvidia GTC (GPU Expertise Convention) in Washington, DC, on Oct. 28. [AFP/YONHAP]

 
The price of 260,000 GPUs, to be bought by the Korean authorities and 4 main conglomerates, is estimated at round 15 trillion gained ($10.5 billion), based mostly on roughly $3 million per GB200 NVL72 server rack. It’s uncommon for Korea to signal a single contract of this scale with a overseas firm, and the identical holds true for Nvidia. Korea’s imaginative and prescient of “manufacturing AI” — embedding AI throughout industrial sectors — aligns neatly with Nvidia’s ambition to develop AI into the bodily world.
 
It’s encouraging that the federal government and corporations have lastly secured a big provide of GPUs and declared their intention to remodel Korean manufacturing by way of AI. Solely a yr in the past, Korea was notably silent whereas Taiwan and Japan raced forward, asserting AI partnerships with Nvidia. Korea, as a substitute of concentrating on AI and rising applied sciences, was led by a president extra occupied with implausible political eventualities, corresponding to the potential for declaring martial regulation on December 3.
 
If this period is outlined by machines producing intelligence, then a producing nation like Korea has cause to maneuver rapidly. Through the Industrial Revolution, European nations that harnessed steam engines, spinning machines, and metal manufacturing reshaped the world. America led the previous century by dominating computing know-how.
 
However conviction alone doesn’t translate into transformation. Even with GPUs secured and hyperscale information facilities from corporations like Amazon Net Companies and OpenAI arriving, none of those programs energy themselves. The electrical energy to run AI supercomputers constructed on 260,000 GPUs must be generated inside Korea. America, which holds greater than 20 million GPUs, is rebuilding its nuclear power sector for related causes. It’s also why President Lee Jae Myung coupled his marketing campaign pledge of turning into a worldwide AI chief with plans for a nationwide “power freeway.”
 
 
But, in contrast to the joy surrounding GPUs, the power query is much extra sophisticated. Nuclear energy — politicized beneath the Moon Jae-in administration — stays important within the AI period, however nonetheless constrained. The Nuclear Security and Safety Fee has twice delayed a call on extending the lifespan of Kori-2 Nuclear Energy Plant, which may function for an additional 40 years. The hesitation itself sends a message.
 
Kori-2, with a capability of 685 megawatts, first noticed its assessment postponed resulting from inadequate contingency planning for occasions corresponding to plane assaults. As soon as corrected, a ruling celebration–appointed member argued that the plant’s radiation environmental impression evaluation must be reevaluated utilizing requirements from its authentic 1981 working allow. The vote was delayed once more. It leaves the impression that the power output of six wind farms the scale of Jeju’s Hallim Wind Energy Advanced is being left idle. Ten reactors are at present awaiting approval for prolonged operation. Will every face the identical stalemate?
 
One other stress level is the “power freeway.” The Lee administration plans to attach industrial facilities within the Seoul metropolitan space with coastal energy-producing areas by way of ultra-high-voltage transmission strains. However resistance is already arising. On Wednesday, a civic group in Haenam, South Jeolla, protested towards the venture, demanding its cancellation. Designated as a key hub to attach offshore renewable power to the nationwide grid, residents there requested why their land ought to host transmission towers to energy Seoul. The battle mirrors previous flashpoints corresponding to Miryang’s transmission tower protests and the dispute over the East Seoul Substation in Hanam. The federal government might want to mediate earlier than related clashes unfold throughout the nation.
 

Employees from the Korea Electrical Energy Company (Kepco) restore a pylon in Nonsan, South Chungcheong, on Oct. 14, 2021. [JOONGANG ILBO]

 
Haenam could also be solely the start. If extra electrical energy is diverted to AI information facilities, the financially strained Korea Electrical Energy Company might should argue for electrical energy charge hikes. Questions of equity between industries will observe. These should not issues that encourage inventory market cheers or pleasure over GPUs. They’re points that can not be solved solely by President Lee’s sharp rhetoric or fast-paced decision-making. They require endurance, empathy, and cautious listening.
 
To benefit from the 260,000 GPUs, Korea wants not solely ambition but in addition the infrastructure, power, and public consent to help them. Management means getting into the storm of battle, not avoiding it. With out this, the GPUs might arrive — however the energy to run them might not.