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NAVER and NVIDIA’s gigawatt (GW)-scale AI factory agreement, announced last June, took concrete shape through two contracts signed in July. On July 22, NAVER signed a preliminary agreement worth $9 billion with global investment firm Brookfield, and on the 24^th, signed a strategic investment agreement worth $1 billion with NVIDIA. That same afternoon, at the AI Summit in San Francisco, NAVER Board Chairman Lee Hae-jin shared the background and significance of this partnership.

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NAVER: Preparing for the Age of AI Factory

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As global demand for AI surges, competition to secure the large-scale computing resources needed for AI model development and service operation – so-called “AI factories” – is intensifying. An AI factory is a new form of AI infrastructure that combines GPU computing resources with networking, storage, power and cooling systems, and software platforms into a single unit.

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NAVER recognized the value of data centers early on and has continued to invest aggressively. It became the first Korean IT company to build its own self-designed data centers – “GAK Chuncheon” (2013) and “GAK Sejong” (2023) – and has directly operated every layer of the AI factory stack, from data centers and GPU clusters to AI platforms, its own models, and services.

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NAVER is the only company in Korea that provides large-scale GPUaaS (GPU-as-a-Service), and is recognized as one of the few companies in the world capable of leading a sovereign AI business. For NAVER, this partnership will be a decisive opportunity to expand that capability onto the global stage.

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A Leap Toward Becoming a Global AI Infrastructure Provider

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Backed by NVIDIA’s $1 billion strategic investment and $9 billion in AI infrastructure assets to be raised by Brookfield, NAVER will build a $10 billion AI factory.

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The AI factory will run on NVIDIA’s optimized platform, the “DSX Architecture,” with the latest Blackwell GPU platform and the next-generation Vera Rubin platform to be introduced in phases. Once the definitive agreement with the preferred bidder is signed, Brookfield will raise up to $9 billion through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to fund the capital and infrastructure needed to build the AI factory.

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To further strengthen this partnership, NVIDIA has decided to participate in NAVER’s third-party private placement of new shares worth approximately $1 billion – the first such investment by NVIDIA in Asia. This goes beyond simple technical cooperation, signaling that the two companies have grown into long-term partners that share both the upside and the risk of the business. Under this structure – NVIDIA providing equipment and ecosystem, capital partners providing infrastructure investment, and NAVER handling the platform, operations, and customer service – the companies have laid the groundwork to expand the business rapidly while minimizing the initial capital burden.

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Centered on its hyperscale data center “GAK Sejong,” NAVER plans to begin operations at 55MW in the first half of 2027, expand to 200MW by 2028, and ultimately scale the AI factory up to the gigawatt level over the long term.

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For a World Where a Greater Diversity of AI Can Coexist

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At the AI Summit in San Francisco, Chairman Lee Hae-jin reaffirmed NAVER’s commitment to diversity.

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To move its AI factory business forward proactively, NAVER is working closely with its partners to swiftly complete the formal contracting process. Building on full-stack capabilities spanning infrastructure, models, and services, along with proven sovereign AI experience both in Korea and abroad, NAVER will secure new growth engines in the global AI computing market. ●

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► Read more: Chairman Lee Hae-jin and Jensen Huang announce global partnership for a “GW-scale AI factory” (link)