Nvidia and SK Group Launch $500 Billion Strategic Alliance for Global AI Scale
Nvidia and South Korea's SK Group have announced a massive $500 billion venture to build AI data centers and next-generation memory systems. The partnership aims to solidify South Korea as a premier hub for AI infrastructure and innovation.
The $500 Billion Domestic AI Expansion
Nvidia has joined forces with South Korea’s SK Group to launch a massive $500 billion initiative focused on large-scale AI data centers and high-performance memory. Announced Friday, the deal formalizes a long-term supply agreement with SK Hynix to provide Nvidia with next-generation memory components. The partnership focuses on the production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) required for training sophisticated AI agents and physical AI systems. SK Telecom will spearhead the construction of a 2-gigawatt AI data center powered by Nvidia Vera Rubin chips and SK Hynix HBM4 memory, with the first site scheduled to go live in 2027.
Building the 'AI Factory' Infrastructure
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang described South Korea as possessing the necessary industrial scale and semiconductor leadership to become an international powerhouse. Huang characterized the current period as a "golden age" for the nation's semiconductor and industrial sectors. This sentiment was echoed by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who argued that competitiveness in the current era depends on a nation's ability to produce intelligence through infrastructure. Key components of this strategy include:
- Collaboration between SK Hynix and Nvidia on HBM4 development.
- The creation of global-standard "AI factories" to move South Korea beyond adoption into innovation leadership.
- A separate expansion of Naver’s AI data center in South Korea, involving Naver, Nvidia, and Brookfield.
San Francisco Declaration and Diplomatic Support
The deal coincided with a Silicon Valley summit attended by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. During the event, President Lee introduced the "San Francisco AI Declaration," a vision for technological cooperation between the United States and South Korea. Before the summit, the President held private discussions with industry leaders including Sam Altman of OpenAI, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, and Hock Tan of Broadcom, in addition to Jensen Huang. Lee emphasized that South Korea intends to offer its dynamic ecosystem to the global market to foster both industrial and personal AI applications.
Source: Livemint — Companies
