{
  "id": 544882,
  "title": "Why Google and Meta turned away from Korea",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/11/why-google-and-meta-turned-away-from-korea-544882",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-11T08:07:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/business/tech-science/20260811/why-google-and-meta-turned-away-from-korea"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Google and Meta, two major tech companies, recently visited Korea to meet with local renewable energy startups. Their discussions revolved around the potential investments in supplying clean energy to AI data centers that the companies are considering building in the country. As companies with strong commitments to environmental, social, and governance practices, Google and Meta prioritize the use of clean energy to reduce carbon emissions when planning such investments. Data centers require substantial electricity, and running them on renewable energy is a key criterion for these tech giants.\n\nFollowing their talks with the Korean startups, Google and Meta decided to suspend their investments in the country. Their decision was primarily driven by the limited capacity of Korea to provide a steady supply of clean energy. To meet the round-the-clock demands of their data centers, Google and Meta require a consistent source of clean energy, preferably generated from solar or wind sources. However, intermittent generation of solar and wind energy poses a challenge in ensuring a continuous and reliable power supply for their data centers.",
  "summary": "Employees from Google’s and Meta’s headquarters each paid a visit to Korea recently. Unbeknownst to the news media, they quietly met with Korean renewable energy start-ups to discuss potential investments in supplying clean energy to AI data centers the firms are considering building in Korea. Big name companies always make sure they remain committed to environmentally friendly efforts to reduce…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Google surpasses Naver in monthly average users in Korea for 1st time",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/11/google-surpasses-naver-in-monthly-average-users-in-korea-for-1st-time",
        "published": "2026-08-11T06:12:02.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}