The announcement at the CEO Workshop
SK Group aims for a comprehensive conversion of its subsidiaries to artificial intelligence. This was stated by group Chairman Chey Tae-won during the 2026 CEO Workshop, held from November 12 to 14 in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, according to the South Korean newspaper Maeil Business Newspaper, as reported by IT之家. The meeting was attended by, among others, Chey Tae-won, Chey Jae-won and Chey Chang-won.
According to the source's account, Chey Tae-won said the group must break existing patterns and reposition itself as an AI company, adding that all subsidiaries must find a new positioning and build a so-called "AI flywheel" capable of linking artificial intelligence services to the token economy. This is a statement of strategic direction, not a detailed operational plan: the material does not indicate investments, timelines or measurable targets.
From the current perimeter to services
The reasoning set out by the group's leadership is that SK should expand its scope beyond AI semiconductors, infrastructure and energy to reach services. This is the passage that makes the announcement significant: the group is not limited to strengthening the components and energy already linked to AI, but envisions shifting part of its center of gravity toward service activities that generate a stream of recurring revenue, in line with the flywheel image.
On the industrial side, the source points to two examples already underway. SK Hynix is upgrading its smart factory by integrating AI and digital twin technologies to increase efficiency in semiconductor production. SK Innovation, by contrast, uses a process map that connects plants and operational data, improving production yield at the Ulsan petrochemical complex. These are cases of internal application of AI to processes, not yet new services intended for the market.
Global cooperation and open issues
Chey Tae-won also stressed the importance of international cooperation in the AI era, observing that no company can do everything alone. The statement suggests a model of external alliances, but the material does not specify with which partners or in which areas.
Several elements therefore remain to be verified: the legal and organizational form of the subsidiaries' transformation, the planned investments, the scope of AI services and the link to the token economy, an expression cited but not defined in the source. The picture that emerges is that of a strategic directive announced at the group's leadership meeting, with initial applications in factories; its translation into economic results is not yet documented.
