NVIDIA and Samsung lead South Korea’s $3B AI revolution with 260,000 GPUs; Inside the World’s largest AI megafactories
NVIDIA and Samsung power South Korea’s AI megafactory boom
South Korea is making a historic leap in artificial intelligence, teaming up with NVIDIA to deploy over 260,000 GPUs across multiple AI factories. The national initiative, announced at the APEC Summit, marks one of the world’s largest AI infrastructure expansions, integrating Samsung, Hyundai Motor Group, SK Group, and NAVER Cloud in a bid to make South Korea a top-three AI powerhouse.
Samsung Builds 50,000-GPU AI Megafactory to Transform Chipmaking
Samsung Electronics is spearheading the industrial shift with its AI Megafactory, powered by 50,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs. The semiconductor giant plans to use NVIDIA Omniverse, cuLitho, and CUDA-X to simulate and automate chip manufacturing, cutting production time and boosting efficiency by 20x.
Samsung will also integrate AI robotics and enhance its mobile and HBM4 memory design in collaboration with NVIDIA, further deepening its role as both a supplier and AI innovator.
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NVIDIA’s $3B Partnership With Hyundai and SK Group Fuels Korea’s AI Industry
Hyundai Motor Group is investing nearly $3 billion alongside NVIDIA to advance autonomous driving and AI-powered smart factories. The collaboration involves 50,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs dedicated to AI model training and deployment across its mobility ecosystem.
Meanwhile, SK Group is launching Asia’s first industrial AI cloud, using RTX PRO 6000 Server Edition GPUs to power digital twins, robotics, and next-generation semiconductor research.
Together, these efforts represent a seismic shift toward “physical AI,” blending robotics, real-world simulation, and deep learning.
NAVER and Korean Government Boost National AI Ecosystem
Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT is deploying 50,000 GPUs through the National AI Computing Center in partnership with NAVER Cloud, Kakao, and NHN Cloud. NAVER will expand its infrastructure to 60,000 GPUs, developing sovereign AI language models and inclusive AI services for citizens.
This initiative supports sovereign AI development, allowing Korean companies to create large language models and applications rooted in local data and language.
NVIDIA Drives Quantum Leap in Korean Science and Research
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) is partnering with NVIDIA to establish a Center of Excellence for quantum computing and AI supercomputing. Utilizing NVIDIA NVQLink and CUDA-Q, KISTI will deepen research in quantum error correction and hybrid supercomputing applications, paving the way for the next generation of quantum-GPU innovation.
NVIDIA’s Global Vision: Korea as the AI Factory of the Future
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang described Korea as being “at the heart of the AI industrial revolution,” positioning its AI factories as global exporters of intelligence. With over a quarter-million GPUs, the project will redefine manufacturing, telecommunications, and digital transformation, cementing South Korea’s status as a world AI leader.
FAQ
1. What is the NVIDIA–South Korea AI project?
The NVIDIA–South Korea initiative involves deploying over 260,000 GPUs across AI factories run by Samsung, Hyundai, SK Group, and NAVER to accelerate AI innovation, automation, and national digital transformation.
2. How many NVIDIA GPUs is Samsung using?
Samsung is installing 50,000 NVIDIA GPUs in its new AI Megafactory to enhance chip manufacturing and AI model development for mobile devices and robotics.
3. What makes these AI factories important?
They represent a new era of physical AI, combining digital twins, robotics, and high-performance computing to power industries from manufacturing to mobility.
4. How is Hyundai partnering with NVIDIA?
Hyundai Motor Group is investing $3 billion to co-develop AI-driven manufacturing systems and autonomous driving models using 50,000 Blackwell GPUs.
5. What is NAVER Cloud’s role in Korea’s AI ecosystem?
NAVER Cloud is deploying 60,000 NVIDIA GPUs to support sovereign AI model development and public-private AI innovation in Korea.
6. What are Blackwell GPUs?
Blackwell is NVIDIA’s latest GPU architecture designed for AI, robotics, and data-intensive workloads, delivering massive performance gains and energy efficiency.
7. What is “sovereign AI”?
Sovereign AI refers to national-level AI development infrastructure and models built using local data, ensuring autonomy, security, and cultural relevance.
8. How does this project impact global AI leadership?
It positions South Korea as a top-three global AI powerhouse, driving innovation in chipmaking, automation, and scientific research.
9. What role does quantum computing play in this initiative?
KISTI’s collaboration with NVIDIA integrates quantum and GPU supercomputing, advancing next-gen research in physics-informed and quantum AI.
10. When will the AI factories become operational?
Deployments have already begun and are expected to scale through 2026 and beyond, with early operations underway at Samsung and NAVER sites.
