Naver’s AI infrastructure push just jumped from an ambitious buildout to a much bigger capital story. On July 24–25, 2026, Naver, Nvidia and Brookfield said they plan to expand Korea’s sovereign AI factory infrastructure from an initial 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts by 2028, with Naver aiming to scale the platform to 1 gigawatt over time. The financing plan attached to the project is also substantial: Brookfield said it would fund up to $9 billion as the exclusive capital partner, Nvidia plans to invest $1 billion, and Naver will cover the remaining amount for the $10 billion project.
The move matters because it is not being framed as a normal data center expansion. Naver and Nvidia are pitching it as sovereign AI infrastructure built around Nvidia’s DSX platform at Naver’s GAK Sejong hyperscale data center in Sejong, South Korea, with the goal of serving enterprises, industries, government organizations and global AI cloud customers.
Key Insights
- The planned buildout would grow the first NVIDIA DSX AI factory deployment at GAK Sejong from 55 MW to 200 MW by 2028.
- Naver says the longer-term target is 1 gigawatt of AI infrastructure.
- The financing structure centers on up to $9 billion from Brookfield, $1 billion from Nvidia, and the rest from Naver.
- The announcement builds on Naver’s June 2026 plan with Nvidia to launch a gigawatt-scale AI factory strategy. Reuters reported that earlier agreement in June.
- The latest announcement came as part of President Lee Jae Myung’s AI Summit visit to San Francisco.
Planned investments would more than triple the initial 55 MW buildout, with a path to 200 MW by 2028 and a longer-term goal of 1 GW.
Why This Story Is Bigger Than a Data Center
This is a capital-and-infrastructure play, not just a cloud expansion. Nvidia’s wording makes that clear: the companies are talking about a “sovereign AI factory” designed to support local and international AI workloads, not just internal compute needs. That matters because sovereign AI has become one of the defining themes of the current AI race. Countries want their own model training, inference and deployment capacity, instead of relying entirely on overseas cloud providers.
Naver is also signaling that this is meant to be a platform business. The company says the infrastructure will support Korea’s enterprises, industries and government users, while also serving global AI cloud demand. In plain English: Naver does not want to be seen only as a search or internet company. It wants to be an AI infrastructure operator.
That ambition was already visible in June, when Reuters reported Nvidia said Naver would use its technology to build gigawatt-scale AI factories. The July announcement simply turns that idea into a more concrete financing and deployment plan.
What Changed Since the June Announcement?
The key shift is scale and funding certainty. In June, the story was mainly about intent: Naver would build gigawatt-scale AI factories using Nvidia technology. By late July, the parties were presenting a specific initial expansion path, a location, a 2028 target, and a financing split.
There is also an important legal and financial nuance here. Nvidia’s planned $1 billion investment is subject to closing conditions, and it depends on Naver finalizing at least $9 billion of committed financing separate from Nvidia’s contribution. Brookfield’s role is described through a nonbinding term sheet, which means the deal still has execution steps ahead of it.
That is not a minor detail. In infrastructure deals of this size, the headline number can sound more final than it really is. The real test is whether land, power, financing and equipment timelines all line up.
How This Fits the Wider AI Race
South Korea’s AI push is moving fast. Reuters reported separately on July 24 that Nvidia and SK Group unveiled a more than $500 billion AI initiative, including a 2-gigawatt AI data center plan from SK Telecom. The Naver-Brookfield-Nvidia announcement landed in the same broader wave of AI investment deals aimed at locking in compute, memory and infrastructure capacity.
That context matters because AI is no longer only about models. It is about power access, land, financing, chips, and operational control. Brookfield brings the capital and infrastructure know-how. Nvidia brings the computing stack. Naver brings the local platform, cloud experience and existing data center footprint at GAK Sejong. Together, they are trying to own more of the AI supply chain than a typical cloud partnership would.
The Industry Outlook
The big takeaway is simple: AI infrastructure is becoming a strategic national asset. Korea is now positioning itself as a serious buildout market, and Naver is trying to secure a first-mover role inside that market. If the project progresses as planned, it could help Naver compete more aggressively in enterprise AI, cloud services and sovereign workloads, while giving Nvidia another flagship infrastructure showcase in Asia.
For readers watching the tech market, the signal is broader than one company. The next phase of AI competition is not just about who has the smartest model. It is about who can finance, power and operate the largest AI factories at scale. This announcement says Naver wants a seat at that table.
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