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NVIDIA, SK Group Ink $500B-Plus AI Deal Under South Korea’s AI Bet

As the AI chip race intensifies, the collaboration spans AI factory construction, AI memory supply and AI cloud infrastructure, combining SK Telecom's AI infrastructure with SK hynix's advanced HBM technology to support sovereign, enterprise and physical AI expansion.
A group of executives from SK Group and NVIDIA pose together at a networking event, holding cocktail glasses and smiling for a photo following the announcement of their expanded strategic partnership in AI infrastructure and next-generation memory.
July 27, 2026 07:15 PM IST | Written by Supriya Singh | Edited by Pratima O Pareek

SK Group, the parent company of chipmaker SK hynix and SK Telecom, and NVIDIA have announced plans for a partnership worth more than $500 billion to establish AI infrastructure spanning AI factory construction and AI memory supply.

The collaborations is a part of South Korea’s broader $950 billion AI investment initiative unveiled at the San Francisco AI Summit hosted by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

The companies signed Letters of Intent covering AI factory construction and AI memory supply, addressing the surging global demand for AI compute.

The deal builds on the companies’ long-term technology partnership, including SK Telecom’s recently announced plans to build a 2-gigawatt-scale AI cloud in Korea using NVIDIA’s DSX platform. The partnership announced at the summit expands those plans by deploying NVIDIA Vera Rubin accelerated computing powered by SK hynix’s HBM4 memory, with the first AI factory planned to come online in 2027.

“South Korea has all the ingredients to become a global AI powerhouse – world-class networks and data centers, leadership in chip technology and vast industrial scale,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA.

The companies aim to accelerate large-scale AI infrastructure development, including sovereign, physical, agentic and enterprise AI services, jointly addressing rising AI demand across the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea.

“Together with SK Telecom and SK hynix, we are building a new generation of AI factories that will power Korea’s next wave of growth,” Jensen added.

In addition, SK hynix expands its long-term AI partnership with NVIDIA. Under the agreement, NVIDIA will secure a stable, long-term supply of next-generation AI memory, while SK hynix will expand production of advanced AI memory.

The two companies plan to jointly develop next-generation memory solutions, including High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), to support workloads ranging from large language model training to agentic AI and physical AI.

“In the AI era, competitiveness depends not just on how effectively AI is utilized, but on how much intelligence we can produce,” said SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

He said SK Group will leverage SK hynix’s AI memory and SK Telecom’s AI infrastructure capabilities to collaborate with NVIDIA on building a world-class AI factory, helping Korea transcend its role as “a leading adopter of AI” and become a “global hub that drives AI innovation.”

Also Read: US Tech Giants Turn to South Korea to Lock in Chip Supply for AI Buildout

Authors

  • AI FrontPage Reporter Supriya Singh

    Supriya Singh is a Reporter at AI FrontPage covering the AI & Education and AI & Jobs beats. She brings six years of print and digital experience, including three years at The Asian Age, where she reported on higher education, Delhi government, and crime. She is based in Delhi-NCR.

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  • Pratima Pareek, Editor and Co-founder of AI FrontPage

    Pratima O Pareek is an Editor and Co-Founder of AI FrontPage. A gold medalist in Mass Communication and Journalism, she's worked across national and international newsrooms, bringing sharp editorial instincts and a commitment to clarity. She believes in cutting through the noise to deliver stories that actually matter.
    Off the clock, she watches offbeat cinema, follows tennis, and explores new places like a traveler, not a tourist.

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