South Korea Invests in AI with NVIDIA GPUs for Industrial Growth

South Korea is positioning itself as a global leader in artificial intelligence through a landmark partnership with NVIDIA. The collaboration involves the deployment of over 250,000 NVIDIA GPUs across the nation's sovereign clouds and AI factories, aiming to drive AI-powered economic expansion and technological innovation in sectors such as automotive, manufacturing, and telecommunications.

Announced during the APEC Summit, this initiative highlights South Korea's commitment to leveraging AI for industrial advancement. Jensen Huang, NVIDIA's CEO, emphasized the critical role of accelerated computing infrastructure in supporting South Korea's ambition to become a top AI powerhouse. The country aims to integrate AI into its manufacturing and export strategies, mirroring its success in physical exports.

Government and Cloud Initiatives for Sovereign AI

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) is leading efforts to enhance South Korea's AI capabilities by deploying up to 50,000 NVIDIA GPUs, including advanced models like Blackwell. These GPUs will be integrated into the National AI Computing Center and major cloud providers like NAVER Cloud, NHN Cloud, and Kakao Corp. This infrastructure will support research institutes, startups, and AI companies in developing advanced models and applications.

NVIDIA is also collaborating with Korean industries, academia, and research institutions on AI-RAN and 6G infrastructure. Partnerships with companies like Samsung, SK Telecom, and Yonsei University focus on developing intelligent, low-power AI-RAN network technology, further strengthening South Korea's AI ecosystem.

Industry Giants Build NVIDIA AI Factories

Major players in manufacturing, automotive, and telecommunications are investing heavily in AI factories equipped with NVIDIA GPUs. Samsung Electronics is constructing an AI factory with over 50,000 GPUs to advance intelligent manufacturing and integrate AI into its products. The SK Group is designing an AI factory for semiconductor R&D and cloud infrastructure, while Hyundai Motor Group is investing $3 billion to co-develop AI capabilities with NVIDIA.

NAVER Cloud is expanding its AI infrastructure with over 60,000 NVIDIA GPUs, supporting the development of industry-specific AI models for sectors like shipbuilding and security. These initiatives will foster a new era of intelligent operations and solidify South Korea's position as a global AI leader.

Advancing LLM Research and Quantum Computing

The Korean government is partnering with NVIDIA to advance its Sovereign AI Foundation Models project, leveraging NVIDIA NeMo and Nemotron datasets to develop reasoning models using local data. LG AI Research and other institutions are collaborating with NVIDIA to cultivate physical AI technology and support startups and academia with EXAONE models for applications like cancer diagnosis.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) is establishing a Center of Excellence with NVIDIA to facilitate research using the HANGANG supercomputer, which features NVIDIA accelerated computing. This partnership will deepen research in quantum error correction and hybrid application development using the NVIDIA CUDA-Q platform.

Fostering a Dynamic Startup Ecosystem

NVIDIA and its partners are establishing an alliance to nurture startups through the NVIDIA Inception program. Participants will gain access to accelerated computing infrastructure and NVIDIA software, accelerating growth for the next generation of companies. NVIDIA plans to participate in the N-Up AI startup incubation program, reinforcing its commitment to South Korea's entrepreneurial spirit.