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South Korean internet portal operator Naver Corp. has secured a combined US$10 billion investment commitment from Nvidia Corp. and Canadian asset manager Brookfield to finance its project to build a large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) data center, according to Yonhap News Agency reports.
The announcement comes as Naver and Nvidia agreed on a strategic partnership to jointly establish a massive, global AI factory, with Naver spearheading the acquisition of the data center site, construction, and operations, while Nvidia will participate as the graphic processing unit supplier.
Coverage Comparison
Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's leading wire service, reported the investment and partnership details across multiple articles. One report, dated July 27, cited a regulatory filing by Naver that outlined the strategic partnership with Nvidia and the equity investment plans. Another report, dated July 25, covered the investment commitment announcement made at an AI summit in San Francisco, where Naver founder Lee Hae-jin confirmed the funding.
A third Yonhap report, also from July 25, added details about the project's scope and the expected benefits for AI developers in South Korea and the United States.
Key Claims
According to Yonhap, the partnership between Naver and Nvidia aims to "seize business opportunities in the global AI computing market and secure new revenue streams," as stated in Naver's regulatory filing.
Naver plans to gradually expand the initial NVIDIA DSX AI factory build-out at the GAK Sejong data center from 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts by 2028, with the ultimate goal to expand infrastructure beyond the Asia-Pacific region, the filing said.
Nvidia plans to make an equity investment of around US$1 billion by acquiring common shares of Naver through a third-party private placement. Brookfield is expected to provide US$9 billion worth of computing infrastructure through project financing. Naver is set to designate the Toronto-based asset manager as the preferred bidder for the next 12 weeks as they continue discussions to finalize the agreement.
The expected investments will be made through 2028, but the amount that will directly come from Naver has not been decided yet, according to the regulatory filing.
The announcement came after a high-level meeting held last week with the heads of South Korean conglomerates and tech giants from the United States, which occurred on the sidelines of President Lee Jae Myung's visit to San Francisco, Yonhap reported.
At the AI summit in San Francisco on Friday, Lee Hae-jin said the funding will allow Naver to accelerate its AI data center project. The expanded infrastructure will give South Korean and U.S. AI developers access to production-scale computing capacity to build next-generation AI models, agents, and AI-powered services, Naver said in a press release.
Under the agreements, Brookfield will provide up to US$9 billion as the exclusive capital partner, while Nvidia will invest US$1 billion and Naver will provide the remaining funding for the US$10 billion project, the company said.
"Leveraging the strong partnerships with our global partners, we will drive technological innovation, foster a sovereign AI ecosystem and spearhead efforts to strengthen South Korea's AI competitiveness," Lee said, as quoted by Yonhap.