Nvidia, SK Group Sign $500B+ AI Partnership Covering 2GW Data Center and Long-Term HBM Supply

Nvidia and SK Group signed a $500 billion-plus letter of intent on July 24, 2026, to build a 2-gigawatt AI data center in South Korea using Nvidia's Vera Rubin DSX architecture and secure long-term supply of SK hynix HBM4 memory, with first operations targeted for 2027. The deal, announced during South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's visit to Silicon Valley, represents estimated total business value across memory purchases and supercomputer acquisitions, and is the anchor of SK Telecom's broader 15GW AI data center buildout.

Nvidia, SK Group Sign $500B+ AI Partnership Covering 2GW Data Center and Long-Term HBM Supply - Nvidia and SK Group signed a $500B+ LOI encompassing a 2GW AI factory in South Korea and long-term HBM4 memory supply from SK hynix 1 https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/sk-group-and-nvidia-expand-strategic-partnership-across-ai-factories-and-next-generation-memory - The 2GW data center will run on Nvidia's Vera Rubin DSX full-stack architecture with SK hynix HBM4 memory, with first operations targeted for 2027 2 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/07/25/3333161/0/en/SK-Group-and-NVIDIA-Expand-Strategic-Partnership-Across-AI-Factories-and-Next-Generation-Memory.html - The $500B figure represents estimated total business value across the partnership — including Nvidia's memory purchases from SK hynix and SK Group's purchases of Nvidia supercomputers 3 https://thenextweb.com/news/nvidia-naver-sk-group-korea-ai-investment - SK Telecom's 2GW facility is the first phase of a broader 15GW AI data center buildout across southeastern and southwestern Korea, with 5GW due in stages from 2029 4 https://news.sktelecom.com/en/3155 - Separately, Nvidia committed $1B to expand Naver's AI data center from 55MW to 200MW, with Brookfield providing up to $9B in additional funding 3 https://thenextweb.com/news/nvidia-naver-sk-group-korea-ai-investment Nvidia and SK Group have signed a $500 billion-plus letter of intent establishing one of the largest AI infrastructure partnerships ever announced. The deal, disclosed on July 24, 2026, during South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's visit to Silicon Valley, covers two pillars: SK Telecom's construction of a 2-gigawatt AI data center on Nvidia's Vera Rubin DSX platform in South Korea, and a long-term co-development and supply agreement for next-generation high-bandwidth memory from SK hynix 1 https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/sk-group-and-nvidia-expand-strategic-partnership-across-ai-factories-and-next-generation-memory 2 . The $500 billion figure represents the estimated total commercial value across the multi-year partnership — encompassing Nvidia's purchases of HBM chips from SK hynix, the world's largest supplier of high-bandwidth memory, as well as SK Group's acquisitions of Nvidia supercomputers and AI factory infrastructure 3 . The first facility is targeted to come online in 2027 . 2 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/07/25/3333161/0/en/SK-Group-and-NVIDIA-Expand-Strategic-Partnership-Across-AI-Factories-and-Next-Generation-Memory.html The partnership fits within SK Telecom's broader ambition to build up to 15GW of AI data center capacity across South Korea, with 5GW scheduled to open in stages beginning in 2029. The 2GW Nvidia-partnered facility, centered on the Gyeongsang region in southeastern Korea, serves as the flagship anchor of that buildout 4 . Deal Structure The LOI binds three SK Group subsidiaries to Nvidia across distinct workstreams. SK Telecom will build and operate the 2GW AI factory using Nvidia's DSX full-stack architecture — integrating accelerated computing, networking, systems software, and partner technologies into a unified platform designed for the lowest token cost at maximum energy efficiency 2 . SK hynix, which already supplies the majority of Nvidia's HBM modules, will expand the relationship through co-development and priority supply of future HBM generations including HBM4 1 https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/sk-group-and-nvidia-expand-strategic-partnership-across-ai-factories-and-next-generation-memory . 2 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/07/25/3333161/0/en/SK-Group-and-NVIDIA-Expand-Strategic-Partnership-Across-AI-Factories-and-Next-Generation-Memory.html Reuters reported that the $500 billion headline encompasses the cumulative business generated across the joint ecosystem over the life of the partnership, rather than a single upfront capital commitment 3 . The deal structure reflects the symbiotic dependency between Nvidia and SK hynix: Nvidia needs guaranteed access to advanced memory as the key bottleneck in accelerator production, while SK hynix needs volume commitments to justify the capital intensity of next-generation memory fabs. The 2GW AI Factory The 2GW AI data center — described by both parties as an 'AI factory' — will deploy Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin accelerators paired with SK hynix's HBM4 memory modules. The facility will be built on Nvidia's DSX architecture, which Nvidia positions as its reference design for gigawatt-scale AI training and inference workloads including LLM training, agentic AI, and physical AI applications 2 . SK Telecom has identified the Gyeongsang region in southeastern South Korea as the location for a 2GW-plus data center cluster, anchored by an AI data center already under construction in Ulsan 4 . South Korea's power grid, which relies heavily on nuclear and LNG generation, provides what SK Telecom characterizes as stable baseload conditions for hyperscale operations . A single 1GW-class AI data center in Korea requires approximately KRW 70 trillion roughly $50 billion in construction costs, according to SK Telecom's estimates 4 https://news.sktelecom.com/en/3155 . 4 https://news.sktelecom.com/en/3155 SK Telecom's 15GW Ambition The Nvidia partnership represents the opening phase of a far larger infrastructure play. On July 5, 2026, SK Telecom announced plans to build up to 15GW of AI data center capacity, with 5GW to be activated in stages starting in 2029 4 . Beyond the 2GW southeastern cluster, SK Telecom plans an additional 1GW in the Jeolla region of southwestern Korea, with the remaining capacity to serve both domestic and international AI compute demand . 4 https://news.sktelecom.com/en/3155 SK Telecom is positioning itself as an 'AI Infrastructure Architect' — orchestrating financing through a mix of corporate investment, strategic partner capital, long-term customer contracts, and project finance 4 . The company has also signed MOUs with Anthropic for GW-class AI data centers in Korea and has combined infrastructure capabilities with AWS . 5 https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/07/25/sk-signs-500-billion-ai-infrastructure-loi-with-nvidia Broader Korea AI Push The Nvidia–SK Group deal landed alongside several other announcements during President Lee's Silicon Valley visit. Nvidia separately committed $1 billion to South Korean internet company Naver, expanding an AI data center under construction from 55MW to 200MW capacity. Brookfield agreed to provide up to $9 billion in additional funding for the Naver facility through a nonbinding term sheet 3 . SK Group itself signed approximately $750 billion in cooperation agreements with major technology companies during the visit, including Microsoft, Anthropic, and AWS, in addition to the Nvidia LOI 5 . SK hynix agreed to supply server memory optimized for AI workloads to Microsoft data centers over the medium to long term . The aggregate commitments reflect South Korea's national 'Three Mega Projects' strategy — establishing a domestic semiconductor belt and building nationwide AI data centers to position the country as a global AI hub 5 https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/07/25/sk-signs-500-billion-ai-infrastructure-loi-with-nvidia . 5 https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/07/25/sk-signs-500-billion-ai-infrastructure-loi-with-nvidia Market Context The partnership locks in the two companies' mutual dependency at unprecedented scale. SK hynix dominates global HBM production alongside Samsung, and Nvidia's accelerator roadmap is architecturally linked to HBM performance gains. By formalizing a multi-year supply and co-development agreement, Nvidia secures a critical input against a backdrop of surging AI chip demand, while SK hynix gains the volume visibility to plan capacity expansions. The 2GW facility would rank among the largest single-site AI data center commitments globally, comparable to the gigawatt-scale projects announced by Microsoft, Google, and Meta in the United States. Its completion in 2027 would make it one of the earliest Vera Rubin DSX deployments at scale 2 . Companies mentioned Further sources 1 SK Group and NVIDIA Expand Strategic Partnership Across AI Factories and Next-G… ↗ https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/sk-group-and-nvidia-expand-strategic-partnership-across-ai-factories-and-next-generation-memory 2 SK Group and NVIDIA Expand Strategic Partnership Across AI Factories and Next-G… ↗ https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/07/25/3333161/0/en/SK-Group-and-NVIDIA-Expand-Strategic-Partnership-Across-AI-Factories-and-Next-Generation-Memory.html 3 Nvidia invests $1 billion in Naver and strikes $500 billion deal with SK Group … ↗ https://thenextweb.com/news/nvidia-naver-sk-group-korea-ai-investment 4 SK Telecom Pursues 15GW AI Data Center Buildout, Aiming to Become Asia's AI Inf… ↗ https://news.sktelecom.com/en/3155 5 SK Signs $500 Billion AI Infrastructure LOI With Nvidia — Seoul Economic Daily ↗ https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/07/25/sk-signs-500-billion-ai-infrastructure-loi-with-nvidia The stories that matter, in one email. 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