Naver, Nvidia, Brookfield Unveil Up to $10 Billion Alliance to Build Asia’s Largest AI Hub

Naver said it has secured up to $10 billion in investment and financing support from Nvidia and Brookfield Asset Management. The plan calls for a 200-megawatt AI factory at its Sejong data center that can house about 100,000 graphics processing units. Over time, Naver plans to expand the infrastructure to 1 gigawatt, in a push to gain an early edge in the sovereign AI market.

Naver, Nvidia and Brookfield disclosed the AI infrastructure investment and financing plan, worth as much as $10 billion, at an AI summit in San Francisco on July 24. Nvidia plans to make a $1 billion strategic investment in Naver. Brookfield signed a non-binding letter of intent to provide up to $9 billion. Naver will supply the rest of the capital required for the project.

Nvidia’s investment is contingent on Naver separately securing at least $9 billion in committed financing. Brookfield’s support also remains at the non-binding agreement stage rather than a final contract.

Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver’s board, said the company’s challenge has been scaling the knowledge and operating know-how it has built over the past 30 years. The two companies’ capital, global brands and networks create a major opportunity to expand that expertise, he added.

The project centers on turning Naver’s in-house data center and AI capabilities into a standalone business for external customers. The company has so far designed its own data centers and managed large fleets of servers and GPUs to keep its search, commerce and content services running reliably. Naver now plans to use that experience to provide computing resources, cloud services and AI model development environments to governments, companies and AI startups.

The three companies’ interests are aligned. Naver needs capital and global sales channels to take its data center design and operating technology, HyperCLOVA X and Naver Cloud into overseas markets. Nvidia is seeking to spread its AI factory standard globally by bundling chips, servers, software and data centers, rather than limiting itself to GPU sales. Brookfield sees AI infrastructure, including power and data centers, as a core investment theme and is looking for large-scale opportunities.

Under the arrangement, Naver will oversee operations, Nvidia will provide computing technology, and Brookfield will bring long-term capital as well as experience in power and infrastructure investment. Brookfield manages about $100 billion of assets tied to AI infrastructure, including data centers, computing, semiconductor manufacturing and dedicated power generation facilities. In South Korea, it has managed about $12 billion in assets across infrastructure, real estate and energy since 2014.

The initial buildout is more than three times larger than originally planned. In June, Naver said it would build a 55-megawatt Nvidia DGX-based AI factory at its hyperscale GAK Sejong data center in Sejong with Nvidia. Under the new partnership, that will expand to 200 megawatts by 2028. Nvidia said the facility would be able to run about 100,000 GPUs. It is slated to operate as a multi-tenant AI cloud using next-generation platforms including Vera Rubin and Blackwell.

Over the longer term, Naver plans to expand its AI infrastructure to 1 gigawatt and supply computing resources not only to South Korean companies and the government, but also to global AI companies, including those in the US. The goal is to move beyond facilities used to develop its own AI models and build a large-scale production base for AI model training, inference, and agent and physical AI services.

Naver is targeting the sovereign AI market, where governments and companies want to keep data and AI systems under their own control. Demand is rising for AI tailored to local languages, regulations and industry data without relying entirely on global technology companies’ models and cloud services. That is increasing the value of providers that can offer everything from data center operations to models and cloud services. Naver is already pursuing sovereign AI projects in Europe and the Middle East.

Lee said Naver’s vision is for an internet world in which the internet and AI are not dominated and controlled by one or two groups. Preserving global diversity requires an environment where countries, groups and individuals can each develop and use different AI systems, he said. Naver will work with global companies that share that goal to help build a world in which diverse AI systems coexist.

Industry officials see the partnership as a turning point that could help Naver expand from a platform company that uses AI to one that builds and operates AI factories. One AI industry official said large-scale AI infrastructure requires not only technology, but also vast capital, power procurement and the ability to win global customers. If Naver can translate the alliance into actual orders and utilization, the business model of South Korea’s internet companies could change fundamentally.

Ahn Jeong-hoon, Hankyung.com reporter ajh6321@hankyung.com