Naver and global alternative asset manager Brookfield Asset Management are moving to formalize cooperation to build a 1-gigawatt (GW) artificial intelligence (AI) factory.
According to Naver on the 4th, Lee Hae-jin, chair of Naver's board, and Bruce Flatt, chair of Brookfield, met the previous day at Naver's 1784 headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, to discuss ways to push the AI factory project and plans for future cooperation.
The two companies plan to combine Naver's AI technology with Brookfield's global infrastructure investment and operations capabilities to target the AI infrastructure market. Brookfield will participate across the business, not only in financing but also by efficiently securing equipment and infrastructure and attracting new customers.
Brookfield is a global alternative asset manager with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. It has agreed to invest up to $9 billion in the first phase—200 megawatts (MW)—of the 1 GW AI factory being promoted by Naver and Nvidia. The companies plan to continue cooperating in subsequent phases.
The first-phase AI factory will be built at Naver's hyperscale data center, "Gak Sejong," in Sejong. The initial capacity, originally planned at 55 MW, has been expanded to 200 MW, and about 100,000 Nvidia GPUs will be deployed. Based on Nvidia's Vera Rubin and Blackwell platforms, the goal is to supply large-scale AI computing resources to domestic and overseas corporations.
Lee said the company aims to lead the global AI infrastructure market by combining Brookfield's infrastructure investment capabilities with Naver's AI competitiveness. Flatt also emphasized that it would be a partner supporting business growth in procurement and customer acquisition, going beyond a simple financial investor.