Naver's partnership with Nvidia and Brookfield to build a combined $10 billion (about 14.6 trillion won) artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure cooperation framework is being viewed as a decisive bet aimed at the global AI factory market. As companies worldwide face two barriers amid the AI boom — securing graphics processing units (GPUs) and covering the enormous cost of building data centers — Naver has simultaneously secured a GPU supply chain and infrastructure funding, the core elements of AI infrastructure, laying a foundation to target the global AI infrastructure market.
According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 27th, Naver's decision to pursue a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase for the first time since its transfer listing to the KOSPI in 2008 is interpreted as reflecting management's strong will to stake the company's future on the AI infrastructure business. By bringing in Nvidia as a strategic investor and establishing an AI infrastructure procurement framework with Brookfield, the company chose a strategy of simultaneously securing the GPU supply chain and infrastructure funding, the core elements of building an AI factory.
"Through this capital increase, Nvidia will acquire a 4.5% stake in Naver," an industry official said. "This exceeds the shareholding of Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver's board (about 3.9%), meaning Nvidia is participating not merely as a customer but as Naver's strategic partner and a major shareholder."
The $9 billion AI infrastructure procurement contract signed with Brookfield is also the largest external procurement since the company's founding. By cooperating with Brookfield, which holds hyperscale data center assets and power, Naver has also secured a stable base for AI infrastructure supply.
Behind the direct equity investments and large-scale funding by global big tech firms and investors in Naver lies Naver's unmatched "full-stack AI" operating capability. Naver directly operates data centers, GPU clusters, AI platforms, and its own AI models and services. After becoming the first in the world to commercialize Nvidia supercomputing infrastructure in 2019, Naver has optimized cooling, power, and network technologies for AI workloads based on operating experience accumulated over more than 20 years. It operates a GPU cluster of about 100,000 units, the largest in Korea, and even provides large-scale GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS). Based on these capabilities, Naver is one of only a few key companies worldwide able to lead the sovereign AI business, already providing enterprise services to hundreds of thousands of customers. For Nvidia, this means it has chosen Naver as the optimal execution partner to turn its GPUs into "AI factories" most efficiently and quickly.
In fact, when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited Naver's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province last month, Chairman Lee stressed, "Currently, Naver is the only company with the experience and technological capability to build and operate AI factories." Huang responded, "I agree," expressing his support for Naver's AI factory capabilities.
Brookfield also said in a statement that day, "Korea has all the foundations to emerge as a global AI leader," adding, "We will continue to work closely with Naver and Nvidia to build the foundation for Korea's next-generation AI innovation."
Based on this global alliance of capital and technology, Naver has set a goal of generating full-scale AI factory revenue from 2027. The company plans to trial-operate a 55 MW (megawatt) AI factory in the first half of 2027, bring it fully on track to 200 MW by 2028, and then use that as a springboard to rapidly expand to a 1 GW (gigawatt)-class mega-scale infrastructure.
With Nvidia and Brookfield choosing Naver as a key AI partner, its enhanced standing in the global market is expected to give momentum to overseas business expansion. The key targets are the sovereign AI markets in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East that seek to break away from dependence on U.S. and Chinese big tech. The business model provides Naver's GPUaaS and data center operation know-how as a package to countries and companies seeking to own their own data centers and GPU infrastructure.
Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, said, "The investments by Nvidia and Brookfield will be an important turning point for Naver's future growth," adding, "Starting from this investment, we will swiftly finalize the recruitment of AI factory clients and make this a turning point for Naver to leap forward as a major company in the global AI infrastructure sector."
