Alibaba Cloud originally entered the South Korean market with the launch of its first data center in March 2022
In sum – what to know:
Second data center in South Korea – Alibaba Cloud confirms its second facility in the Asian country will open by end-June 2025, enhancing capacity for AI and cloud services.
Meeting AI and digital demand – The new facility addresses rising local demand from businesses adopting AI, cloud computing and digital platforms.
Global investment – The company recently confirmed its investment of around $52.7 billion build out its cloud infrastructure at a global scale.
Chinese company Alibaba Cloud has confirmed it will open a second data center in South Korea by the end of this month, further expanding its regional footprint to meet rising demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) services.
Alibaba Cloud originally entered the South Korean market with the launch of its first data center in March 2022, after announcing the project in late 2021, according to local press reports.
“In line with the rapid advancement of AI-based technologies and increasing digital demand across industries, Alibaba Cloud has been continuously expanding its infrastructure in South Korea,” said Yoon Yong-joon, country manager for South Korea at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “Through the launch of this second data center, Alibaba Cloud will provide customers with more resilient and adaptable cloud environments, ultimately fostering AI innovation across various sectors and expanding the digital ecosystem.”
Some of the clients of Alibaba Cloud in South Korea include AI company Univa and live-streaming platform Lala Station, which has been using Alibaba Cloud services since 2022.
Lee Cheol-ho, chairman of Lala Station, said: “With Alibaba Cloud’s support, we have been able to scale our operations and enhance engagement with our audience across diverse markets.”
The new data center facility is expected to provide improved capacity and localized support for South Korean businesses, especially those operating with high-performance computing and AI applications.
Last month, Alibaba Cloud confirmed it was moving ahead with its ambitious global expansion strategy, reaffirming plans to invest CNY380 billion ($52.7 billion) in building out its cloud infrastructure at a global scale.
Speaking at a corporate gathering, Alibaba Cloud’s CEO Eddie Wu emphasized the company’s goal of developing a “unified global cloud network”, enabling Chinese enterprises to access consistent AI infrastructure both domestically and internationally.
As previously reported by the South China Morning Post, the Chinese firm intends to accelerate growth in strategic markets including Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. The company currently operates 87 availability zones across 29 regions, with recent additions including a new region in Mexico and a second data center in Thailand.
These plans, first unveiled in February, have taken on renewed urgency following the escalation of tensions between the U.S. and China around access to AI hardware. The U.S. has restricted the export of advanced chips to China, prompting chipmakers like Nvidia to release downgraded products such as the H20 GPUs, which are tailored for the Chinese market.
However, in April 2025, the U.S. imposed even stricter limitations, banning the export of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China. Nvidia has said the move will cost the company around $5.5 billion in inventory-related charges and cause it to forgo approximately $15 billion in potential revenue, according to previous reports.
Alibaba’s latest earnings report showed strong financial performance, with Alibaba Cloud reporting a 13% year-on-year revenue increase, reaching CNY31.7 billion for the December quarter. The unit has recorded triple-digit AI-related product revenue growth for six consecutive quarters, making it the fastest-growing segment within the company over the past three years, according to the report.
