Nvidia invests $1 billion（約1600億円） in NAVER, expands Seoul AI datacenter to 200 megawatts

On Saturday, during South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's visit to the AI Summit in San Francisco, Nvidia announced plans to invest about $1 billion（約1600億円） in NAVER as part of a broader infrastructure expansion in South Korea. A regulatory filing by NAVER on Monday detailed the mechanics: Nvidia will purchase 7.2 million newly issued shares at 204,500 KRW ($139.45) per share—roughly a 1% discount to NAVER's Friday closing price. This stake gives Nvidia a concrete equity position in the South Korean technology company.

The investment fuels a major datacenter expansion. NAVER's GAK Sejong AI datacenter, currently at 55 megawatts of capacity, will grow to 200 megawatts by 2028, with Brookfield Asset Management committing up to $9 billion（約1.4兆円） in total AI infrastructure funding. Nvidia has updated the partnership structure to position itself explicitly as the GPU supplier for the facility rather than as a business partner sharing revenue and risk. The expanded facility is expected to deploy Vera Rubin and Blackwell systems—next-generation AI architectures—providing production-scale computing capacity for enterprises, startups, and government organizations across South Korea.

This investment builds on momentum created in June, when Nvidia first announced a partnership with NAVER and simultaneously unveiled collaborations with SK Hynix, SK Telecom, and Doosan to expand its presence in South Korea's AI ecosystem. The companies stated that the project will support the development and deployment of next-generation AI models and applications throughout the country. On the day the investment was announced, NAVER's stock price rose 7.23% to 222,500 KRW ($151.76) in Seoul, while Nvidia's shares closed 0.92% lower on Friday at $206.84 in New York trading.

Nvidia's $1 billion（約1600億円） investment in NAVER marks a significant step in the company's strategy to build AI datacenter infrastructure in South Korea. The investment was announced during a high-profile visit by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to the AI Summit in San Francisco, signaling government-level support for the project. The expansion of NAVER's GAK Sejong facility from 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts by 2028—backed by Brookfield Asset Management's up to $9 billion（約1.4兆円） in funding—represents a major capacity increase for enterprise and government AI computing in the region.

This deal builds directly on groundwork laid in June, when Nvidia announced partnerships with NAVER, SK Hynix, SK Telecom, and Doosan to expand its presence across South Korea's AI ecosystem. By positioning itself as the GPU supplier rather than a revenue-sharing partner, Nvidia is clarifying a cleaner commercial relationship that focuses on hardware provisioning. The timing and scale suggest Nvidia views South Korea as a critical market for next-generation AI systems—specifically Vera Rubin and Blackwell architectures—and sees datacenter buildout as essential to capturing enterprise and government demand in the region.

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