Naver Secures $1.5 Billion AI Cloud Deal as It Expands AI Factory Capacity in South Korea
Naver has taken a major step forward in its artificial intelligence infrastructure ambitions after signing a KRW 2 trillion contract, worth approximately US$1.5 billion, with a U.S.-based AI inference company.
Announced on November 12, the agreement marks the first major customer win for Naver’s AI Factory business, a large-scale AI computing platform being developed in partnership with Nvidia and Brookfield. The deal highlights growing demand for advanced AI cloud services, particularly for companies that require high-performance computing to run inference workloads at scale.
At the center of Naver’s AI expansion is its GAK Sejong data center in South Korea, a key facility supporting the company’s next-generation cloud and AI services. Naver plans to significantly increase the AI Factory’s computing capacity, targeting 200MW by 2028. This expansion is expected to strengthen the company’s position in the fast-growing AI infrastructure market.
AI inference, the process of running trained AI models to generate responses, predictions, or content, has become one of the most important areas of cloud computing. As businesses adopt generative AI, autonomous systems, intelligent search, and real-time automation, demand for powerful and energy-efficient AI computing services continues to rise.
For Naver, the KRW 2 trillion agreement is more than just a major revenue opportunity. It also validates the company’s strategy to become a key AI cloud infrastructure provider beyond its core internet, search, and platform businesses. By combining its data center expertise with Nvidia’s AI hardware ecosystem and Brookfield’s infrastructure capabilities, Naver aims to build a competitive AI computing business capable of serving global enterprise customers.
The deal also reflects South Korea’s growing role in the global AI infrastructure race. As demand for AI data centers accelerates, companies with reliable power capacity, advanced cooling systems, and scalable cloud architecture are becoming increasingly important to the future of artificial intelligence.
With its first large-scale AI Factory customer now secured, Naver is positioning itself as a serious contender in the AI cloud services market. The planned expansion to 200MW by 2028 could make the company one of the region’s key providers of AI computing capacity, especially as more businesses seek dependable infrastructure for advanced AI applications.
