SK Group is accelerating its comprehensive management strategies, including enhancing its artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure competitiveness, making structural improvements to its battery business, and expanding ESG management. As the domestic semiconductor industry made massive investments in global AI companies, establishing itself as a core partner in the AI agent ecosystem, SK On significantly strengthened its financial competitiveness through the restructuring of its U.S. joint venture and a change in leadership.

[Enhancing AI Infrastructure Competitiveness] Trillion-Won Investment in Anthropic, Organizational Innovation, 1st Place in Management Evaluation

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix made trillion-won equity investments in the U.S. AI company Anthropic, solidifying their positions as AI infrastructure partners. According to industry reports, Anthropic raised 65 billion USD (approx. 98 trillion KRW) in this investment round, bringing its corporate valuation to 965 billion USD (approx. 1,440 trillion KRW). The top three memory companies—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron—participated as strategic infrastructure partners. Notably, Samsung Electronics' standalone investment is reported to be in the trillions of won, making it the largest among the three memory makers.

Anthropic stated that the technologies of these companies play a pivotal role in the global supply of memory, storage, and logic chips. Following this investment, the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) of both companies is expected to be incorporated into the data center infrastructure being built by Anthropic with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google. Anthropic signed a contract with AWS to secure up to 5GW of new data center capacity, and agreed with Google and Broadcom to build a 5GW-scale computing infrastructure based on next-generation Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). Google participated with several billion dollars, and AWS with 5 billion USD in this round, while Anthropic stated that upfront committed investments from existing hyperscalers like Amazon amounted to 15 billion USD. An official in the semiconductor industry commented, "This investment by Samsung and SK signifies that high-performance memory, such as HBM, has emerged as a core player beyond just a simple component in the AI infrastructure ecosystem."

The integration of AI technology into daily company operations is also active. To spread AI utilization across the entire organization, SK Ecoplant established a three-stage system: ▲ AI Acceptance, ▲ AI Capability Development, and ▲ AI Agent Development and Service Implementation. Employees develop their AI skills through a step-by-step certification program, and as of May 29, about 200 employees have completed the certification. Jung Hee-rak, Head of the AI Board Team at SK Ecoplant, stated, "We have established a system that goes beyond one-off training to solve field problems using AI and connect them to actual services," adding, "We will maximize work productivity."

SK Hynix's sound management performance is also being re-evaluated. In the 2024 management evaluation of the top 500 companies announced by corporate data research institute CEO Score, SK Hynix scored 648.3 out of 800 points, taking the overall first place for the second consecutive year. It received high marks in the areas of high-speed growth, investment, and sound management.

[Improving Battery Business Structure] Completion of BlueOval SK Restructuring, CEO Lee Suk-hee Resigns

SK On has completed the restructuring of its U.S. joint venture, BlueOval SK, with Ford, putting an end to its financial structure improvement efforts. Starting May 21, SK On converted its Tennessee plant into a separate entity, 'SK On Tennessee,' and began operating it independently. Consequently, SK On will independently own and operate the Tennessee plant, while Ford will do the same for the Kentucky 1 and 2 plants. Through this restructuring, SK On expects to reduce its debt burden by approximately 5.4 trillion KRW, save around 180 million USD (approx. 270 billion KRW) in annual interest expenses, and decrease its annual depreciation cost burden by about 330 billion KRW. SK On aims to begin mass production at the Tennessee plant in 2028, and by strengthening its responsiveness to local production demand in North America, it targets to secure orders of over 20GWh in the global Energy Storage System (ESS) market this year.

With the restructuring finalized, SK On CEO Lee Suk-hee will step down from his position at the end of May. In a CEO letter on the 28th, Lee announced his intention to resign, citing health and stamina reasons. An engineer-turned-CEO with 36 years of experience, he focused on improving yields at global production plants, developing LFP batteries, and expanding domestic and international ESS businesses during his tenure. He led SK On to record a quarterly operating profit in the third quarter of 2024, the first time since its launch as an independent entity. He explained, "I adjusted the timing of my departure to wrap up key management issues, including the termination of the U.S. joint venture." As a result, SK On will transition from the existing co-CEO system of Lee Suk-hee and Lee Yong-wook to a sole CEO system under Lee Yong-wook.

[Expanding ESG Management] First Results of Social Impact Incentive in Japan, Active Employee Social Contribution

SK's social value creation model has proven its worth overseas. The 'Social Progress Credit (SPC)' model, developed by the Social Value Research Institute, recorded its first successful application abroad in Japan. As a result of a program jointly promoted by the Social Value Research Institute and the Japan Fundraising Association (JFRA) over the past three years, the social impact created by participating institutions amounted to a total of 1.26 billion JPY (approx. 12 billion KRW), with performance-based incentives of 117.41 million JPY (approx. 10.8 billion KRW) paid out. Na Seok-gwon, CEO of the Social Value Research Institute, evaluated, "This is an achievement showing that the SPC model, which originated in Korea, can be applied to the global impact ecosystem."

The social contribution activities of SK Group's affiliates are also notable. SK Securities won the Grand Prize in the Social Contribution category at the 2026 Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Forbes Social Contribution Awards on May 27. The company was recognized for its employee-participation-based resource recycling activities for discarded furniture and milk cartons, as well as youth financial education. SK Securities CEO Jung Joon-ho stated, "We will continue responsible practices that connect with the local community together with our employees." Additionally, on May 28, around 120 employees from SK Hynix, SK Chemical, and SK Ecoplant led the way in practicing ESG management by conducting environmental cleanup activities around the industrial complex in Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju.