Nvidia is collaborating with the South Korean government and leading companies to significantly expand the nation's AI infrastructure and ecosystem, marking a pivotal move to fuel innovation, industries, and job creation within the country. This initiative aims to support South Korea's national strategy to become one of the top three global AI powerhouses.

Key Collaborations and Investments

The South Korean government, through the Ministry of Science and ICT, is investing in sovereign AI infrastructure by deploying over 50,000 of the latest Nvidia GPUs across the National AI Computing Center and Korean cloud service and IT providers, including NHN Cloud, Kakao Corp, and NAVER Cloud. This will provide research institutes, startups, and AI companies with access to infrastructure for building AI models and applications.

Several major South Korean companies are also making significant investments:

• Samsung Electronics: Constructing an AI factory with over 50,000 GPUs to accelerate its AI, semiconductor, and digital transformation roadmap. Samsung is also partnering with Nvidia to build a 6G AI Factory, combining chip technology with next-generation connectivity to support future global communication infrastructure. They intend to equip their production lines with AI-based automation that is powered by Nvidia's chip platforms to accelerate semiconductor yield, reduce time-to-market, and leverage smart factory technologies.
• SK Group: Building an AI factory featuring over 50,000 Nvidia GPUs and Asia's first industrial AI cloud, featuring Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPUs for physical AI and robotics workloads.
• Hyundai Motor Group: Collaborating with Nvidia and the Korean government to build an Nvidia AI factory with 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs to enable integrated AI model training, validation, and deployment for manufacturing and autonomous driving. Hyundai's collaboration will focus on establishing the country's physical AI industry, including an AI Application Centre and AI Technology Center.
• NAVER Cloud: Expanding its Nvidia AI infrastructure with over 60,000 GPUs for enterprise and physical AI workloads. NAVER Cloud, along with LG AI Research, SK Telecom, NC AI, Upstage, and Nvidia, are developing Korean foundation LLMs to accelerate Korean AI applications through public-private partnerships.

Nvidia plans to supply over a quarter-million GPUs to South Korea for its sovereign clouds and AI factories.

Focus on Talent Development

South Korea is also investing 1.4 trillion won ($960 million) to nurture AI talent from elementary school to postgraduate researchers. The Education Ministry announced the "AI Talent Development Plan for All," which aims to strengthen AI capabilities throughout a person's lifetime. The plan aims to make South Korea one of the world's top three AI powerhouses by building a human resources pipeline across the education system, while also preventing "brain drain".

The government will introduce a "fast track" program that allows outstanding students to complete their bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in just 5.5 years. AI Education Support Centers will be established across the country to provide training for students, parents, and teachers. Specialized vocational high schools will also be restructured toward AI-related disciplines.

Industry Transformation

This collaboration is expected to drive AI-enabled economic growth and innovation across South Korea's industries, including automotive, manufacturing, telecommunications and healthcare. Nvidia's partnerships with Samsung, Hyundai, SK, and Naver will fuel innovations in 6G, mobility, cloud, and physical AI.

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, stated that South Korea's leadership in technology and manufacturing positions it at the heart of the AI industrial revolution. He believes that accelerated computing infrastructure is becoming as vital as power grids and broadband.

South Korea's Broader AI Strategy

This collaboration with Nvidia aligns with South Korea's broader national strategy for AI, which emphasizes regulatory flexibility, comprehensive support for AI startups, and the creation of a skilled workforce. The country aims to secure world-class AI competitiveness, enhance economic and social vitality, and improve the quality of life for its citizens through AI. The Korean government has unveiled a KRW 10.1 trillion ($7.3 billion) investment blueprint to accelerate the nation's “AI Grand Transformation,”.