Nvidia Deepens Its Global AI Strategy With a Historic South Korean Push
In a bold move underscoring the rise of sovereign artificial intelligence infrastructure, Nvidia (NVDA) unveiled plans to supply 260,000 of its most advanced AI chips to South Korea’s technology giants and government agencies.
The announcement, made Friday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Seoul, highlights Nvidia’s expanding role as the world’s premier AI hardware provider and South Korea’s ambitions to build a self-sufficient AI ecosystem.
The deals — involving Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor, and NAVER Cloud — will significantly boost South Korea’s total Nvidia GPU deployment from 65,000 to more than 300,000 units, positioning the nation as a regional AI powerhouse.
“These partnerships will help South Korea develop a sovereign AI cloud infrastructure that enhances national competitiveness while ensuring technological independence,” said Raymond Teh, Nvidia’s Vice President for the Asia-Pacific region.
Nvidia declined to disclose the financial value or delivery timeline of the deals, but industry analysts estimate the combined contracts could total several billion dollars over the next three years.
The Rise of Sovereign AI: A $1.5 Trillion Market Opportunity
The concept of sovereign AI has quickly become one of the defining narratives of the post-ChatGPT era. As nations race to secure their data and computational infrastructure, governments are prioritizing domestic AI models, cloud systems, and chip supply chains that reduce reliance on foreign technologies.
According to Nvidia, the sovereign AI market could reach $1.5 trillion globally within the next several years. The company’s deals with South Korea, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the European Union form part of a broader geopolitical trend: building localized AI capabilities that align with national interests and data governance frameworks.
In South Korea’s case, the push dovetails with the government’s “Digital New Deal” initiative — a long-term strategy to make the country a global leader in AI, semiconductors, and robotics.
Inside the Deal: Nvidia’s 260,000-Chip Deployment
Nvidia’s rollout will see its Blackwell and Hopper series GPUs powering data centers and research clusters across multiple sectors:
- Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) will use Nvidia’s AI systems to accelerate chip design and manufacturing automation, strengthening Korea’s position as a global semiconductor hub.
- Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) plans to deploy 50,000 GPUs in its upcoming AI factory, dedicated to advancing autonomous driving and robotics technologies.
- SK Telecom, a major SK Group subsidiary, will leverage the chip capacity to develop industrial AI cloud infrastructure across Asia.
- NAVER Cloud, often described as “Korea’s Amazon Web Services,” will expand its AI computing backbone with an additional 60,000 GPUs, serving both corporate and public-sector clients.
- The Korean Ministry of Science and ICT will purchase over 50,000 Nvidia chips for the National AI Computing Center, ensuring access to high-performance computing for government-led AI research and digital governance projects.
Collectively, these deployments will transform South Korea into one of Nvidia’s largest non-U.S. AI markets, rivaling the scale of GPU installations in Japan and the Middle East.
Strategic Timing: Nvidia’s Shift Away From China
Nvidia’s South Korea expansion comes at a critical geopolitical moment. With U.S.-China trade tensions escalating and Washington imposing export restrictions on advanced AI chips to China, the company’s once-lucrative Chinese business has all but evaporated.
Just a year ago, China accounted for up to 25% of Nvidia’s revenue, according to D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria. The new wave of sovereign AI partnerships — including this South Korea initiative — is now filling that void.
“Without China, Nvidia must expand globally to sustain its AI data center growth,” said Luria. “Sovereign AI allows them to do that — while aligning with geopolitical realities.”
The timing is no coincidence. Nvidia’s South Korea announcement came one day after U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping for high-stakes trade talks in Seoul, signaling Washington’s continued efforts to strengthen AI cooperation with allied nations.
South Korea’s “AI Factories”: A Blueprint for National Independence
At the heart of the Nvidia-South Korea partnership is a shared commitment to AI sovereignty — the ability for nations to independently train, deploy, and secure large language models and AI applications.
Each of the participating South Korean conglomerates will establish its own AI factory — next-generation data centers equipped with Nvidia’s Blackwell GPUs, high-bandwidth memory modules, and proprietary interconnect technology.
- Samsung’s AI factory will integrate Nvidia’s systems into its semiconductor R&D units, enabling faster chip design simulations and next-generation node optimization.
- SK Hynix plans to use the GPUs for memory chip research and to enhance yield through AI-based wafer inspection.
- Hyundai’s facility will focus on AI-driven robotics and autonomous driving, building on the company’s investments in mobility intelligence.
- NAVER Cloud’s expansion will enable scalable deployment of Korean-language foundation models, allowing local developers and startups to build AI applications tailored to the Korean market.
Meanwhile, the South Korean government will coordinate efforts through public-private partnerships, ensuring that infrastructure investments align with long-term digital sovereignty objectives.
“These AI factories represent the future of industrial-scale intelligence,” said Minister Lee Jong-ho of South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT. “They will form the foundation of a self-reliant AI ecosystem that supports both innovation and national security.”
Nvidia’s Global AI Footprint: From Silicon Valley to Seoul
The South Korea initiative adds to Nvidia’s growing portfolio of sovereign AI projects worldwide. In 2024 and 2025 alone, the company has announced:
- A $10 billion partnership with the UAE to build a national AI cloud.
- Deals in Saudi Arabia to equip Aramco and NEOM’s smart city infrastructure.
- A collaboration with the UK government to support its AI Safety Institute.
- A Department of Energy project in the U.S. for sovereign AI and quantum computing research.
These partnerships serve a dual purpose: expanding Nvidia’s commercial base and embedding its technology into the digital infrastructure of entire nations.
As CEO Jensen Huang stated earlier this year, “Sovereign AI will define the next industrial revolution. Every country, every industry, and every company will build their own intelligence factories.”
Financial Impact: Sovereign AI as a Revenue Engine
Nvidia expects sovereign AI projects to contribute over $20 billion to its fiscal 2026 revenue, reflecting the surge in large-scale government and enterprise contracts.
The company’s stock has mirrored this optimism. Nvidia shares have climbed 11% in the past five trading sessions and recently became the first company in history to cross a $5 trillion market capitalization — a figure larger than the GDP of Japan.
Investors see sovereign AI as the next growth frontier, offsetting any shortfall from the Chinese market and ensuring continued demand for Nvidia’s GPUs, networking systems, and AI software stack.
The Broader Implication: AI Sovereignty as a New Global Arms Race
The Nvidia-South Korea deal is more than a commercial arrangement — it’s part of a global AI arms race where compute capacity, data ownership, and algorithmic independence have become strategic assets.
Nations are no longer competing just for GDP growth or defense technology, but for AI supremacy — the capability to innovate, secure, and deploy artificial intelligence without external dependencies.
For South Korea, this partnership ensures access to cutting-edge infrastructure and positions it as a regional leader in AI and semiconductor innovation. For Nvidia, it cements the company’s role as the indispensable supplier of the world’s AI ambitions.
A New Chapter in Nvidia’s Global Expansion
Nvidia’s 260,000-chip rollout in South Korea is more than a business milestone — it’s a strategic blueprint for how nations and corporations will approach AI in the coming decade.
By aligning with the world’s top semiconductor producers, automakers, and government agencies, Nvidia has embedded itself at the core of South Korea’s digital future. The move demonstrates how the company’s hardware, software, and ecosystem partnerships are converging to power the global shift toward sovereign AI infrastructure.
As the U.S. tightens export restrictions and nations invest billions in local AI capabilities, Nvidia’s South Korean expansion signals an undeniable reality: the next phase of artificial intelligence will not just be about innovation — it will be about ownership, sovereignty, and scale.
“AI sovereignty is the new oil of the digital age,” said Raymond Teh. “And Nvidia is supplying the engines.”