Hyundai Motor Group commits $6.3 billion to build AI data center and robotics hub in South Korea

Hyundai Motor Group Unveils Massive Investment in South Korea

Hyundai Motor Group signed a landmark agreement with South Korea to invest 9 trillion won ($6.3 billion) in the Saemangeum area, marking one of the automaker's most ambitious moves into artificial intelligence and robotics 1

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. The multi-billion-dollar investment was formalized during a ceremony attended by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun on Friday 5

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. This investment in South Korea represents a strategic shift for the automaker as it faces mounting pressure from US tariffs, competition from Chinese automakers, and a slowing transition to electric vehicles in key markets 1

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AI Data Center to Power Autonomous Vehicle Technology

The centerpiece of the Hyundai Motor Group investment is a 5.8 trillion won AI data center that will deploy 50,000 GPUs (graphics processing units) to support autonomous vehicle development and robot learning 2

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. The facility will process data required for vehicles, smart factories, and other applications, establishing what the company describes as a virtuous cycle where manufacturing data trains AI systems that then improve products 5

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. This initiative builds on Hyundai's October partnership with Nvidia to develop a national physical AI cluster using the chipmaker's Blackwell accelerators 1

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. The AI data center is scheduled for completion in 2029, with construction beginning in 2027 5

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Robot Manufacturing Factory to Produce Wearable Robots

Hyundai will allocate 400 billion won to establish its first robot manufacturing factory in South Korea, designed to mass produce wearable robots and other industrial and logistics models 1

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. The facility will comprise a complete robot manufacturing plant, a foundry plant for contract robot production, and a component cluster, eventually fostering a robot parts ecosystem in the region 5

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. Construction of the robot manufacturing plant will begin in 2028 and is expected to be completed in 2029 5

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. The company's Boston Dynamics unit showcased the production-ready version of its Atlas humanoid robot at CES last month, which will be manufactured in the US 1

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. Hyundai Motor Group aims to establish production capacity for 30,000 robot units annually by 2028 4

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Hydrogen Production Facilities and Solar Power Complex

The investment package includes 1 trillion won allocated to build a water electrolysis facility capable of producing 80 tons of green hydrogen daily 1

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. An additional 1.3 trillion won will fund a gigawatt-scale solar power complex to power the AI and hydrogen initiatives 3

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. The facilities will be built in the Saemangeum area, located about 270 kilometers southwest of Seoul 1

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. Saemangeum is a massive national land reclamation project that began more than 20 years ago on South Korea's west coast, partly to secure farmland and later to bring industrial clusters to a region long considered disadvantaged 2

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Transformation into Physical AI Company

The investment marks a milestone for Hyundai Motor Group's transition from carmaker to a physical AI company 5

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. "The logistics and industrial robots to be mass-produced at this factory will be connected to the AI data center for constant learning," President Lee Jae Myung said at the investment agreement ceremony. "This area will be reborn as a future city where everyone conveniently uses robots in their daily lives" 1

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. The project is expected to create approximately 16 trillion won of economic value and generate 71,000 jobs in total 5

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. KB Securities analyst Kang Seong-jin noted that "market perception of Hyundai Motor is shifting from a traditional value stock to a physical AI-driven growth stock" 5

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. The announcement comes as Hyundai ramps up investment in new growth fields, including AI, robotics and self-driving technology, positioning itself to compete in an evolving automotive landscape where software and automation capabilities are becoming as critical as traditional manufacturing expertise.🟡 unsurpassed_image_recommendation=default_api.UnsurpassedImageRecommendation(confidence_score=default_api.ConfidenceScore(score=0.95), rationale=🟡The chosen images directly align with the key themes of the article: the official agreement ceremony, the AI data center, and robot manufacturing.

• ar-125856: Directly illustrates the formal event mentioned in the first paragraph, showing the key figures involved.
• ar-125858: Visually represents the AI data center, which is a central component of Hyundai's investment in AI and autonomous vehicle technology.
• ar-125857: Clearly depicts a robot in an industrial setting, directly corresponding to the "Robot Manufacturing Factory" section and the mention of Boston Dynamics.

The placement follows the rules by inserting images after relevant paragraphs, avoiding consecutive images, and not breaking up lists (though no lists were present). The selection is within the limit of three images and above the minimum of one.