Shares of South Korea’s Naver Corp climbed nearly eight per cent on Monday after the company announced that Nvidia will invest $1 billion in newly issued shares to support the construction of a major artificial intelligence (AI) data centre.
The stock rose to its highest level since 22 June, significantly outperforming the broader KOSPI index, which fell by around one per cent.
According to a regulatory filing by Naver, the investment will finance the expansion of the AI facility being developed in partnership with Brookfield. The funding will enable the company to more than triple the size of the data centre, which will be powered by Nvidia’s AI computing hardware.
The investment forms part of a broader strategic partnership announced by Nvidia last week as the US chipmaker accelerates the deployment of AI infrastructure beyond its traditional hyperscale cloud customers.
Nvidia also unveiled an expanded collaboration with South Korea’s SK Group to develop more than two gigawatts of AI data centre capacity across the country. The wider initiative is expected to generate more than $500 billion in business through purchases of memory chips and AI supercomputers.
The announcements coincide with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to Silicon Valley, where efforts to strengthen technology partnerships and expand AI investment have featured prominently.
Nvidia has been increasing investments across the global AI ecosystem, including funding AI start-ups, semiconductor manufacturers and large-scale data centre projects. The company’s Chief Executive, Jensen Huang, has consistently advocated for countries to build sovereign AI capabilities, enabling them to develop domestic AI infrastructure while reducing dependence on a small number of hyperscale cloud providers.
The latest investment strengthens Nvidia’s position in South Korea’s rapidly expanding AI infrastructure market while providing Naver with additional resources to scale one of the country’s largest AI data centre projects.
