Nvidia announces deals with South Korea's SK Hynix, Naver and Doosan for AI data centres
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks to reporters during a dinner with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver founder and Chairman Lee Hae-jin at a Korean barbecue restaurant in Seoul on Jun 5, 2026. (Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-je)
SEOUL: Nvidia on Monday (Jun 8) announced deals with South Korea's SK Hynix, Naver and Doosan Group to build AI data centres and use the US chip firm's technology, as it looks to continue driving the AI boom.
The agreements come during a high-profile trip by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to South Korea that began on Friday and has seen him have fried chicken with the country's top corporate bosses, throw a baseball pitch and meet with a well-known gamer so far.
Nvidia and its partners did not disclose the value of the deals.
SK Hynix and Nvidia said they had signed a multi-year technology partnership that would advance next-generation memory for global AI data centres.
The South Korean memory chipmaker said it would enter new AI fields via the partnership, such as personal AI and physical AI, and that the deal would help maintain a stable supply of memory chips despite the advanced memory semiconductors' long development cycles.
Its sister company SK Telecom said it would build a gigawatt-scale AI cloud in South Korea using Nvidia technology, with the first AI data centre to come online in 2027.
Nvidia also said that it would cooperate with South Korean internet giant Naver and conglomerate Doosan, which would both use its technology to build AI data centres.
Doosan, which is developing robots and makes materials used in Nvidia's most powerful Blackwell chips, said it expected its energy solution to be used in Nvidia's data centre platforms and that it would use the US firm's physical AI technology as well.
South Korea is an Asian manufacturing powerhouse, home to major manufacturers of ​chips, electronics, cars and ships. SK Hynix and rival Samsung Electronics are the world's two largest makers of memory chips, which are key components in data centres.
