LG CNS, the information technology services arm of LG Group (003550.KS), will buy 381.4 billion won ($262 million) worth of next-generation graphics processing unit computing resources from Nvidia. The computing resources will be deployed in an artificial intelligence factory project that LG Group is pursuing jointly with Nvidia.
LG CNS said in a regulatory filing on the 11th that its board approved the purchase of Nvidia GPUs and infrastructure equipment, including Vera Rubin systems. Vera Rubin is Nvidia's latest AI server, combining the company's GPUs with central processing units, and entered mass production in the second half of this year. The 381.4 billion won LG CNS is spending to secure the servers equals 7.2% of the company's total assets. LG CNS will sign the purchase contract with Hewlett-Packard Korea, the domestic distributor of Nvidia servers and networking equipment.
The investment follows a strategic memorandum of understanding signed last month by LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang. The two met on the 13th of last month at Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, California, and agreed to pursue joint projects in three areas: humanoid robots, AI factories and mobility.
Nvidia's AI factory concept extends beyond a conventional data center. Rather than simply storing and processing data, it refers to an AI infrastructure model that mass-produces the intelligence industries need through data training and inference. Under the agreement, LG Group and Nvidia will combine LG Electronics' server cooling technology, LG Energy Solution's batteries and LG CNS' data center design and operations capabilities with DSX, Nvidia's data center design framework. The companies will also build a "physical AI data factory" that collects and generates data for robot training and carries out reinforcement learning through Physical Works, LG CNS' robot training platform.
