NAVER accelerates 1GW AI Factory project; Brookfield says, "We will also help attract customers"

[Financial News] NAVER has begun follow-up discussions with global alternative investment manager Brookfield to build a 1-gigawatt-class AI Factory.
According to NAVER on the 4th, Lee Hae-jin, chair of NAVER’s board, and Bruce Flatt, chair of Brookfield Corporation, met on the 3rd at NAVER 1784 in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to hold follow-up discussions on the 1-gigawatt-class AI Factory project. The meeting came about 40 days after NAVER, NVIDIA Corporation, and Brookfield announced their investment plan for the first phase of the AI Factory in July.
Lee expressed his appreciation for Brookfield’s investment decision and reaffirmed the two companies’ commitment to collaboration. Their plan is to combine Brookfield’s expertise accumulated through infrastructure investments with NAVER’s AI technology to target the global AI infrastructure market.
Flatt also stated that Brookfield would not remain merely a capital investor, but would serve as a partner supporting the entire business, including equipment and infrastructure procurement and customer acquisition.
Brookfield is a global alternative asset manager that manages more than $1 trillion in assets worldwide. It plans to arrange up to $9 billion for the 200-megawatt first phase of the 1-gigawatt-class AI Factory that NAVER is developing with NVIDIA Corporation.
The first phase is expected to involve a total investment of $10 billion. Brookfield will arrange up to $9 billion, while NVIDIA Corporation will make a strategic $1 billion investment in NAVER. Through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) established by Brookfield, NAVER plans to secure computing infrastructure, including GPUs and data center equipment, and use it to provide AI computing services to companies and institutions in South Korea and abroad.
NAVER aims to begin operating a 55-megawatt AI Factory centered on Naver Data Center GAK Sejong in the first half of next year, expand it to 200 megawatts by 2028, and eventually scale it to 1 gigawatt over the long term. Starting with the first-phase financing, Brookfield plans to continue its partnership with NAVER through subsequent construction stages.
[email protected] Choi Hye-rim Reporter