Google Cloud introduces data residency service for Korean users

Google Cloud Korea General Manager Kang Hyoung-jun [Courtesy of Google Cloud Korea]

Google LLC’s cloud unit recently introduced a data residency service using generative artificial intelligence (AI) for its South Korean customers, a feature that keeps use data from a country on servers that are in that country alone.

The decision came in response to concerns over potential risk of data leaks as global cloud providers operate their servers globally.

With the Korean government’s initiative to expand the country’s public cloud market, which had to date given limited access to domestic entities, Google’s recent move appears aimed at strengthening its presence in the cloud sector, competing with its primary rival, Amazon Web Services, Inc., the leading cloud platform in the country.

The announcement was made at the Google Cloud Summit Seoul 2023 held at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Gangnam, Seoul. Google Cloud presented its plan for a data residency service in Korea, allowing users of its generative AI solutions to store their data within the Google Cloud Seoul region. This region is among the limited list of 10 global regions where Google Cloud guarantees data residency within its data center supply chain.

Google Cloud Vice President of Strategic Industries Philip Moyer said during the conference that information from Korean clients submitted to the generative AI and the corresponding responses will be exclusively stored in the Seoul region.

Such data is not directly stored in the Google Cloud platform, and any cached data is promptly deleted once the generative AI produces a response to ensure the data cannot be used for training AI models, Moyer added.