Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, announced a formal partnership with Naver to establish a global AI factory, focusing on three key areas: building frontier AI models, collaborating on AI cloud infrastructure, and developing a robotics-based future business environment.
According to the IT industry on June 8, Huang visited Naver's headquarters in Seongnam at 3:45 PM, where he met with Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of Naver's Board, and CEO Choi Soo-yeon.
The lobby of Naver 1784 was filled with employees eager to see Huang. Before his arrival, Lee and Choi waved to the gathered staff. The atmosphere heightened as the announcement of the agreement to jointly build a gigawatt-scale global AI factory was made. Upon Huang's arrival, Lee welcomed him with a hug.
Following the greeting, Huang and Lee discussed future collaboration, including the establishment of the global AI factory.
Huang stated, "The reason NVIDIA collaborates with many companies in Korea is that there are many excellent firms here. Naver's capabilities in software are remarkable. I believe Naver's software, cloud, and AI technologies are outstanding. In fact, NVIDIA and Naver jointly developed Korea's first AI model, which we are proud to say is world-class technology."
In addition to the global AI factory project, NVIDIA and Naver will collaborate on building an open frontier AI model based on the Nemotron framework. They plan to develop robotic systems over the next decade to create a robotics-based future business environment.
Huang remarked, "I saw a robot delivering iced coffee upstairs. In the future, a robot will come when called and deliver coffee. This is the vision of future businesses." He emphasized, "Dreams are becoming reality."
Lee highlighted Naver's unique position in the AI factory landscape, stating, "We were the first company to introduce NVIDIA's GPUs to build a SuperPOD and have invested early in this area. Naver already operates its own data center. In the current market, Naver is the only company capable of meeting rising demand."
He added, "A gigawatt-scale data center is enormous, and this is a significant opportunity for Naver. No other company has the experience and technology to undertake such a project."
Huang also discussed the goals of the Nemotron alliance, stating, "The purpose of Nemotron is to expand the reach of AI and support areas that closed models cannot address. NVIDIA will combine its expertise in AI model development and frontier AI advancement with Naver to build top-tier frontier models. Naver will optimize and enhance these models for its cloud, robotics, and services."
Recently, Naver became the first domestic company to join the 'NVIDIA Nemotron Alliance,' which includes 12 global AI firms such as MistralAI and Purplecity. Naver is accelerating the enhancement of 'HyperCLOVA X' by combining its own data and accumulated learning data with the joint technological development outcomes of Nemotron.
Huang noted, "Korea is world-class in various fields, including manufacturing, heavy industry, electronics, and software. I want to emphasize that such a country is rare in the world. Naver is an excellent partner in AI and robotics. Together with Naver, NVIDIA will lead the world in AI and robotics partnerships."
The collaboration with Naver aligns with NVIDIA's goal of expanding its AI infrastructure ecosystem across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Emphasizing sovereign AI, NVIDIA's direction aligns with Naver's capabilities in AI infrastructure. This alliance will enable Naver to build an AI data center four times the size of the current largest data center in the country, propelling it to a global scale.
Naver will initially use its hyperscale data center in Sejong as a base to implement a phased roadmap for building gigawatt-scale infrastructure. The plan starts with 55 megawatts (MW) in the first half of next year, followed by 100 MW in the same year, and expanding to 200 MW by 2028 to meet global demand.
Huang appeared on Naver's streaming platform 'Chijijik,' stating, "NVIDIA and Naver have collaborated based on a long-standing friendship. Naver is Korea's first cloud and AI company, and our partnership has been a treasured asset for me over the years."
Meanwhile, Huang mentioned that during his visit to Korea, he was given the name 'K-Jensen' at an event held at Seoul National University.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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