Nvidia and SK Group forge $500 billion AI partnership spanning data centers and memory chips

Nvidia, SK Group unveil $500 billion-plus AI data centers initiative, memory partnership

SAN FRANCISCO, July 24 (Reuters) - Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and South Korea's SK Group on Friday unveiled a more than $500 billion AI initiative spanning large-scale AI data centers and next-generation memory, Nvidia said. The initiative includes a long-term partnership with SK Hynix (000660.KS), opens new tab ⁠to secure next-generation memory supply for Nvidia and jointly develop high-bandwidth memory for AI training, AI agents and physical AI applications. As part of the initiative, SK Telecom (017670.KS), opens new tab plans to build a 2-gigawatt AI data center ⁠powered by Nvidia's Vera Rubin chips and SK Hynix's HBM4 high-bandwidth memory, with the first facility due to ⁠come online in 2027, Nvidia added. Separately, Nvidia said it, Naver (035420.KS), opens new tab and Brookfield plan ⁠to expand Naver's AI data center in South Korea. Reporting by ⁠Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Heekyong Yang and Jack Kim in Seoul; Editing by Chris Reese Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Nvidia locks down memory supply from SK Hynix as part of $500 billion AI deal

Nvidia said it's secured AI memory supply from South Korea's SK Hynix, as the chipmaker tries to lock in a key component for its advanced processors and systems. The agreement, announced late Friday in San Francisco, could be worth $500 billion over a number of years, and includes the construction of large-scale data centers expected to come online in 2027, Nvidia said. SK Hynix affiliate SK Telecom will build a cloud business using Nvidia's Vera Rubin systems. Nvidia said it's targeting enough capacity to require 2 gigawatts of power, which indicates a massive buildout with hundreds of thousands of graphics processing units. Nvidia is aggressively securing supply of high-bandwidth memory, which is essential for its GPUs and systems, as the AI boom has created a global memory shortage. SK Hynix is the leader in HBM production, according to analysts. "The expansion will include a co-develop opportunity for us on the next-generation SK Hynix AI memory, and this will help us secure a stable supply of HBM memory," Raj Mirpuri, Nvidia enterprise vice president, said on a call with reporters. The agreement is also a sign that massive AI infrastructure buildouts are moving beyond a handful of hyperscalers, with foreign governments and massive conglomerates starting to get involved. The deal was announced at an AI summit in San Francisco with South Korean officials including President Lee Jae Myung. Nvidia also said Friday that it would invest $1 billion into Naver, a Korean cloud company building data centers around its GPUs. Nvidia said the project would provide an opportunity for potential customers in South Korea and around the world to secure AI computing capacity before the 200 megawatts of capacity is completed. SK Hynix, South Korea's second most valuable company, listed on the Nasdaq earlier this month as part of an effort to finance infrastructure developments.

Nvidia invests $1 billion in Naver and strikes $500 billion deal with SK Group

Nvidia is investing $1 billion in Naver and building a $500 billion commercial partnership with SK Group spanning data centers and memory chips Nvidia will invest $1 billion in South Korean internet company Naver to help finance an AI data center under construction in South Korea, the chipmaker announced late Friday. The funding will allow Naver to more than triple the size of the facility from 55 megawatts to 200 megawatts, with US private equity firm Brookfield agreeing to a nonbinding term sheet to fund up to $9 billion for the project. The site will run on Nvidia's AI computing hardware. Separately, Nvidia announced a long-term commercial partnership with SK Group that it described as worth more than $500 billion. The figure includes money Nvidia will spend buying memory chips from SK Hynix, the world's largest supplier of high-bandwidth memory, as well as purchases by SK Group of Nvidia's supercomputers. SK Telecom will build more than 2 gigawatts of AI data centers on the Korean Peninsula, with the first facility due to open next year. The announcements coincide with a visit to Silicon Valley by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, and additional tech deals between Korean and American companies are reportedly in the works. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Bloomberg Television that South Korea is in a "golden age," pointing to the country's booming semiconductor and industrial businesses as reasons to invest. Nvidia will also help SK Hynix design future high-bandwidth memory chips, an effort to guarantee access to the component that remains in short supply because of the global buildout of AI data centers. The Korea deals are the latest in a year-long investment spree in which Nvidia has committed more than $40 billion to AI equity positions, including $30 billion in OpenAI. Earlier this week the chipmaker signed a separate agreement with Amkor Technology to bolster chip packaging, and it recently completed a trip to Japan that included deals with Toyota and Japanese robotics firms. Critics have described the pattern as circular financing, in which Nvidia invests in companies that then buy its hardware, a structure the chipmaker has replicated with data center operators, neoclouds, and now sovereign AI partners. For South Korea, the deals represent a bet that its semiconductor industry can remain central to the AI buildout even as geopolitical tensions reshape chip supply chains. Samsung and SK Hynix are the only two companies in the world capable of producing the advanced memory chips that Nvidia's processors require, and locking in a design partnership with Nvidia gives SK Hynix a structural advantage over its rival. Huang has argued that every country should create its own sovereign AI capability, and South Korea, with its chipmaking expertise and abundant engineering talent, is among the best positioned to do so.

Nvidia, SK Group Unveil $500 Billion-Plus AI Data Centers Initiative, Memory Partnership

SAN FRANCISCO, July ⁠24 (Reuters) - ⁠Nvidia and South ⁠Korea's SK Group on Friday unveiled a more than $500 billion AI initiative spanning large-scale AI data ⁠centers ⁠and next-generation memory, Nvidia said. The initiative includes a long-term partnership with SK Hynix to secure next-generation memory supply for Nvidia and jointly develop ⁠high-bandwidth ⁠memory for AI ⁠training, AI agents and physical AI applications. As part of ⁠the initiative, SK Telecom plans to build a 2-gigawatt AI data center powered ⁠by Nvidia's Vera Rubin chips and SK Hynix's ⁠HBM4 high-bandwidth memory, with the first facility due to come online in 2027, Nvidia added. Separately, Nvidia said it, Naver and Brookfield plan to expand Naver's AI data ⁠center in South Korea. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Heekyong Yang and Jack Kim in Seoul; Editing by Chris Reese)

Nvidia, SK Group unveil $500 billion-plus AI data centres initiative, memory partnership

As part ⁠of the initiative, SK Telecom plans to build a 2-gigawatt AI data centre powered by Nvidia's Vera Rubin chips and SK Hynix's HBM4 high-bandwidth memory, with the first facility due to come online in 2027, Nvidia added. Nvidia and South Korea's SK Group on Friday unveiled a more than $500 billion AI initiative spanning large-scale AI data centres ⁠and next-generation ⁠memory, Nvidia said. The initiative includes a long-term partnership with SK Hynix to secure next-generation memory supply for Nvidia and jointly develop high-bandwidth memory for ⁠AI training, AI agents and physical AI applications. As part ⁠of the initiative, SK Telecom plans to build a 2-gigawatt AI data centre powered by Nvidia's Vera Rubin chips and SK Hynix's HBM4 high-bandwidth memory, with the first facility due to come online in 2027, Nvidia added. Separately, Nvidia ⁠said it, Naver and Brookfield plan to expand Naver's AI data centre in South Korea.

SK Group and NVIDIA Expand Strategic Partnership Across AI Factories and Next-Generation Memory

SK Group and NVIDIA announced plans for a $500-billion-plus comprehensive partnership to establish AI infrastructure serving the surging demand for global compute. SK Telecom to build 2-gigawatt NVIDIA Vera Rubin DSX AI Factory to serve global compute demand. This cloud will use the NVIDIA DSX platform and deploy NVIDIA Vera Rubin accelerated computing powered by SK hynix HBM4, with the first AI factory planned to come online in 2027. It will be built on the NVIDIA DSX full-stack AI factory architecture, which integrates NVIDIA accelerated computing, systems, software and partner technologies to deliver the lowest token cost at maximum energy efficiency. The two companies will codevelop and optimize next-generation AI memory solutions, including HBM, to meet evolving infrastructure demands ranging from large language model training to agentic AI and physical AI.

Nvidia, SK Group unveil $500 billion-plus AI data centers initiative, memory partnership

SAN FRANCISCO, July 24 (Reuters) - Nvidia and South Korea's SK Group on Friday unveiled a more than $500 billion AI initiative spanning large-scale AI data centers and next-generation memory, Nvidia said. The initiative includes a long-term partnership with SK Hynix to secure next-generation memory supply for Nvidia and jointly develop high-bandwidth memory for AI training, AI agents and physical AI applications. As part of the initiative, SK Telecom plans to build a 2-gigawatt AI data center powered by Nvidia's Vera Rubin chips and SK Hynix's HBM4 high-bandwidth memory, with the first facility due to come online in 2027, Nvidia added. Separately, Nvidia said it, Naver and Brookfield plan to expand Naver's AI data center in South Korea. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Heekyong Yang and Jack Kim in Seoul; Editing by Chris Reese)