South Korea is embarking on an unprecedented national initiative to build out its sovereign AI infrastructure, a move spearheaded by a historic partnership with NVIDIA. This sweeping deployment involves over a quarter-million NVIDIA GPUs, signaling one of the largest national investments in agentic and physical AI to date. The ambition extends beyond mere hardware, aiming to construct a comprehensive AI ecosystem across sovereign clouds and industrial AI factories. This strategic pivot positions South Korea at the forefront of the global AI industrial revolution.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) is leading the sovereign AI infrastructure program, which will see as many as 50,000 of the latest NVIDIA GPUs deployed through major cloud providers like NHN Cloud, Kakao Corp., and NAVER Cloud. This initial wave includes 13,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, with further deployments planned for the coming years. This government-backed effort underscores a critical national strategy to secure domestic AI capabilities and data sovereignty, providing a foundational layer for widespread innovation.
The private sector's commitment is equally staggering, with industrial titans like Samsung, SK Group, and Hyundai Motor Group each building AI factories equipped with up to 50,000 NVIDIA GPUs. NAVER plans an even larger deployment of over 60,000 GPUs. This massive investment will form the intelligent backbone for South Korea's transformation across critical sectors such as manufacturing, mobility, telecommunications, and robotics, fundamentally reshaping industrial operations and product development.
Forging a Future of Intelligent Systems
Beyond hardware, South Korea is heavily investing in foundational AI research and ecosystem development. MSIT, in collaboration with major tech players, is driving a Sovereign AI Foundation Models project, leveraging NVIDIA NeMo software and local data to develop advanced Korean language models with sophisticated reasoning and speech capabilities. This focus on localized AI ensures cultural relevance and enhances domestic technological independence. Furthermore, partnerships with KISTI are establishing a Center of Excellence for quantum computing, pushing the boundaries of scientific research and hybrid quantum AI.
The nation is also aggressively pursuing next-generation mobile networks through AI-RAN and 6G infrastructure, a collaborative effort involving NVIDIA, Samsung, SK Telecom, and academic institutions. This intelligent network technology is crucial for offloading GPU computation from devices to base stations, which significantly reduces energy consumption and extends battery life. Such advancements are vital enablers for the widespread adoption of robotics and advanced physical AI agents across various industries and daily life. To foster innovation, NVIDIA is expanding its Inception program, providing startups with access to accelerated computing infrastructure, venture capital support, and specialized training through the Deep Learning Institute.
This initiative is more than just a technology upgrade; it represents a fundamental rewiring of South Korea's industrial base for intelligence. By integrating AI from sovereign clouds to quantum labs, and from autonomous factories to advanced AI agents, the nation is not merely adopting AI but actively constructing the infrastructure of the future. This comprehensive, multi-faceted approach sets a new global benchmark for national AI strategy and implementation.
