Naver (035420) is pursuing a $10 billion Nvidia-style artificial intelligence (AI) factory project with Nvidia and Brookfield, while SK Telecom (017670) is moving to build and expand an AI data center of up to 2 gigawatts (GW) with Nvidia. SK Telecom is also pursuing investment cooperation with Anthropic on a domestic GW-scale AI data center. Samsung SDS (018260) has signed a strategic partnership with Anthropic to develop new enterprise AI businesses. As a global cooperation network spanning capital, graphics processing units (GPUs), and AI models and services takes shape, the AI data center vision under the government's "Three Mega Projects for Korea's Great Leap Forward," unveiled last month, has entered the implementation stage.
According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 26th, the companies unveiled these big tech collaboration plans on the occasion of President Lee Jae-myung's AI summit in San Francisco the previous day.
Naver will expand the initial capacity of the AI factory being built at its hyperscale data center "Gak Sejong" in Sejong City from the current 55 megawatts (MW) to 200 MW. Based on Nvidia's AI factory construction platform "DSX AI Factory," it plans to accommodate about 100,000 GPUs and, over the long term, expand into GW-scale sovereign AI infrastructure. It will also provide commercial-grade computing resources so that domestic and international AI companies can develop next-generation models, AI agents, and services.
Brookfield, as the exclusive capital partner, will raise up to $9 billion, and Nvidia will make a strategic investment of $1 billion. Naver will cover the remaining funds while overseeing project operation and infrastructure construction. The 200 MW facility will apply Nvidia's next-generation AI platforms Vera Rubin and Blackwell. Naver is also expanding the scope of its cooperation with Nvidia in advancing HyperCLOVA X, an AI agent platform, and the development of the "Seoul World Model."
SK Telecom is pursuing the construction and expansion of an AI data center of up to 2 GW with Nvidia and has secured priority allocation of the Vera Rubin system. Building on the Ulsan AI data center it is constructing with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company plans to expand its business area to major domestic bases and secure GW-scale AI computing capacity.
With Anthropic, SK Telecom is pursuing investment and cooperation on a domestic GW-scale AI data center project. By combining SK Telecom's data center and cloud capabilities with SK hynix's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and Nvidia's GPUs, it will establish a business foundation linking everything from data center construction to computing supply.
Samsung SDS will jointly pursue new domestic business development, training of Claude specialists, and support for Samsung affiliates with Anthropic. The two companies will conduct joint marketing, proof of concept (PoC), and joint ventures targeting corporate customers, and will train applied AI engineers to build and operate AI models on-site. The two companies are currently providing Claude Enterprise to 70,000 employees across 20 Samsung Group affiliates.
The Presidential Office assessed that this cooperation has laid a concrete foundation for investment and collaboration in the key areas of the three mega projects: semiconductors, AI data centers, and physical AI. However, as many of the projects are still at the investment plan or agreement stage, securing power and sites, financing, and long-term customer contracts are expected to determine whether they actually become operational.
