Coupang enters cloud services market with AI-focused platform

Logo of Coupang Intelligent Cloud/ Courtesy of Coupang

SEOUL, July 03 (AJP) - E-commerce platform Coupang has entered the competitive cloud services arena with the launch of Coupang Intelligent Cloud, or CIC, a rebranded version of the company’s internal artificial intelligence computing infrastructure.

The move signals Coupang’s ambitions to expand beyond retail and logistics by positioning itself as a serious player in South Korea’s rapidly growing cloud service sector — a space long dominated by global heavyweights like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, along with local firms such as Naver Cloud.

CIC builds on years of proprietary infrastructure development that has supported Coupang’s core operations, including AI-driven logistics, recommendation engines and back-end systems.

With the rebranding, Coupang is now offering its high-performance computing resources to outside clients — targeting startups, small and mid-sized businesses, and research organizations.

“Based on cutting-edge GPU servers and robust infrastructure, we aim to provide Korea’s highest-quality AI cloud service,” a CIC spokesperson said. “We look forward to growing the AI ecosystem through deep partnerships with startups and research institutions.”

CIC’s facilities are located in Seoul and the surrounding capital region, allowing for low-latency services crucial to AI model training and real-time inference.

The data centers are equipped with high-performance GPU servers, advanced cooling and power redundancy systems, and physical security infrastructure. Coupang has indicated it will update its hardware frequently to keep pace with advances in GPU technology.

In addition to its commercial offerings, Coupang is seeking to align CIC with national AI development efforts.

The company has applied to join a government-led initiative aimed at expanding access to AI computing power and has expressed its intent to collaborate with public-sector agencies.

Lim Jaeho ajupresswogh@ajunews.com