Government Teams Up with Nvidia to Bring in 260,000 GPUs

Hyundai Motor Group, Nvidia, and the Government Forge Tripartite Partnership on Physical AI
Joint Development of Autonomous Driving and Robotics Technologies
Comprehensive Collaboration Spans Startups, AI-RAN, and Manufacturing AI Ecosystems

The government has joined forces with Nvidia to accelerate the enhancement of AI infrastructure and the overall competitiveness of the industry. On October 31, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it would establish an ongoing partnership with Nvidia to secure AI infrastructure, strengthen physical AI capabilities, and support startups. Under this agreement, the government and the private sector will secure a total of more than 260,000 of Nvidia's latest GPUs. Of these, approximately 50,000 GPUs will be rapidly supplied to the public sector, including the National AI Computing Center and the development of proprietary AI foundation models. In the private sector, companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK, Hyundai Motor Group, and Naver will utilize over 200,000 GPUs to drive innovation in AI manufacturing and build industry-specific AI models.

On the same day, Hyundai Motor Group, Nvidia, and the Ministry of Science and ICT also signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to position Korea as a leader in physical AI. Physical AI refers to AI that directly perceives and acts in the real world, such as robotics, autonomous driving, and manufacturing, and is considered the next major battleground in the AI industry. The agreement focuses on: ▲ building AI infrastructure and establishing research centers; ▲ jointly developing physical AI technologies such as autonomous driving and AI robotics; and ▲ cooperation on GPU supply and investment. Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia will collaborate on technology, while the Ministry of Science and ICT will provide policy and administrative support.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and Nvidia will also strengthen their collaboration framework to support domestic AI startups in expanding globally. The 'N-UP' program, jointly operated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Nvidia, is a support platform for AI startups that offers education, seminars, technological cooperation, and opportunities to participate in global events. To date, 151 companies have participated, and the government is considering expanding the budget and increasing support focused on the physical AI sector by 2026.

Cooperation with national research institutions will proceed in parallel. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) and others will form a Center of Excellence with Nvidia to conduct joint research on AI and quantum computing, based on the sixth supercomputer, 'Hangang.' On the morning of October 31, a joint research agreement was also signed for AI-RAN (intelligent base station) technology, with participation from Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus, ETRI, and Yonsei University. AI-RAN is a technology that integrates AI functions into mobile base stations to significantly improve the computational efficiency of physical AI and drastically reduce battery consumption. The establishment of a global testbed for this technology is also planned.

SK Group is discussing with Nvidia ways to establish a 'Manufacturing AI Startup Alliance' and will set up Asia's first enterprise-led manufacturing AI cloud. This cloud will be operated as an open platform accessible to the government, public institutions, and startups alike. Naver will also leverage its cloud and AI capabilities to help strengthen the competitiveness of Korea's mobility industry.