South Korea's biggest internet company is building a gigawatt-scale AI factory, and two heavyweight backers just signed on to fund it
Naver, South Korea’s dominant internet platform, just locked down commitments from Nvidia and Brookfield Asset Management to supercharge its AI data center ambitions. Nvidia is putting up $1 billion while Brookfield’s commitment stretches to $9 billion, funding what Naver calls its “AI factory” project centered on the GAK Sejong facility.
What Naver is actually building #
The plan starts with an initial deployment of 55 megawatts of capacity at the Sejong data center, with Naver’s roadmap calling for reaching gigawatt-scale capacity by 2029.
Nvidia’s primary contribution centers on providing advanced GPU and AI platform technology rather than a straightforward cash investment. The broader Nvidia-South Korea ecosystem envisions deploying over 60,000 GPUs across various sectors, with Naver Cloud serving as one of the key anchor tenants.
Brookfield is targeting investments exceeding 10 trillion won, which translates to over $7 billion at current exchange rates. The funding covers both the data center buildout and the power infrastructure needed to feed it.
Naver’s chair Lee Hae-jin personally traveled to Toronto around July 20, 2026, to meet with Brookfield executives and hammer out the funding framework.
Why this matters beyond South Korea #
Naver had already secured a 400 billion won loan, roughly $270 million, back in April 2026 specifically for the Sejong data center expansion.
What this means for investors #
Decentralized compute projects like Render, Akash, and io.net are competing for a slice of the same fundamental demand curve as large-scale AI infrastructure builds, albeit at a much smaller scale.
Gigawatt-scale AI facilities will put enormous pressure on power grids, potentially competing with Bitcoin mining operations for the same energy resources. This dynamic has already played out in parts of Texas and Scandinavia.
Building gigawatt-scale infrastructure by 2029 is an extraordinarily aggressive timeline. Power procurement alone, from securing grid connections to building substations, typically takes years.
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