Nvidia will invest $1 billion in Naver Corp. to finance an AI data center in South Korea. The deal, alongside an expanded SK Group accord, signals Nvidia's strategy to lock in Asian supply chains and data center capacity.
Key facts
- Nvidia invests $1 billion in Naver for AI data center.
- South Korea AI data center under construction.
- SK Group accord expanded for chip supply and AI development.
- Nvidia market cap exceeds $3 trillion.
- Deal follows Nvidia's Grace server shipments in July 2026.
Nvidia will invest $1 billion in Naver Corp. to help finance an AI data center under construction in South Korea, according to Bloomberg. The investment adds to a frenzy of deals by the world’s most valuable company, which has been deploying capital across the AI stack from chip supply to data center buildout.
Nvidia also expanded its partnership with SK Group, a major chip supplier and memory manufacturer. The expanded accord covers chip supply agreements and joint AI development, deepening a relationship that already includes HBM memory supply for Nvidia's GPUs. SK Group's HBM4 memory is critical for Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin and Blackwell Ultra platforms.
The Naver data center will likely use Nvidia's latest GPU architectures, including the Vera Rubin NVL72 rack-scale systems that Nvidia began shipping in volume this year. Per the company's blog post, Nvidia shipped hundreds of thousands of Grace standalone servers earlier in July 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Nvidia invests $1B in Naver for an AI data center in South Korea and expands its SK Group accord.
- The deals lock in Asian supply chains and data center capacity.
Why South Korea Matters
South Korea is emerging as a critical node in the global AI infrastructure buildout. The country hosts Samsung and SK Hynix, the world's two largest memory chipmakers, and has aggressive government targets for AI data center capacity. Naver, the country's dominant search engine and cloud provider, is positioning itself as a rival to hyperscalers like Google and Amazon in the Korean market.
The $1 billion investment is a relatively small bet for Nvidia, which has a market capitalization exceeding $3 trillion. But it signals a pattern: Nvidia is using its cash hoard to vertically integrate into data center ownership and operator relationships, ensuring demand for its chips while locking out competitors like AMD and Cerebras. AMD recently announced a deal to supply Anthropic with 2 GW of MI450 GPUs, as previously reported.
The expanded SK Group accord also has geopolitical implications. SK Group is a major investor in South Korea's semiconductor ecosystem, and deeper ties with Nvidia could complicate U.S. export controls on advanced AI chips to China. Nvidia has already faced restrictions on selling its highest-end GPUs to Chinese customers.
Nvidia did not disclose the valuation of the Naver investment or the specific financial terms of the SK Group expansion.
What to watch
Watch for details on the Naver data center's GPU capacity and whether it uses Vera Rubin NVL72 systems. Also track Nvidia's next investment in Asian AI infrastructure, likely in Japan or Taiwan, as the company deepens its vertical integration strategy.
Source: bloomberg.com
