Nvidia is buying $1B in new Naver shares to triple AI data center capacity by 2028. The investment supports Naver's $10.3B acquisition of Upbit operator Dunamu, merging crypto trading with
Alpha Score of 76 reflects strong overall profile with strong momentum, weak value, strong quality, moderate sentiment.
Nvidia is putting $1 billion into Naver Corp, South Korea's internet giant, in a deal that connects AI infrastructure spending with one of the biggest crypto exchange acquisitions in Asia.
The investment, announced July 24, buys newly issued Naver shares. The money is earmarked to help triple Naver's AI data center capacity from 55 megawatts to 200 MW by 2028 at GAK Sejong's hyperscale facility.
Naver is in the middle of a $10.3 billion acquisition of Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, South Korea's dominant cryptocurrency exchange. The combination would create a company spanning search, e-commerce, AI compute and crypto trading, all running on Nvidia-powered infrastructure.
The Nvidia investment is part of a larger financing package targeting roughly $10 billion total. Brookfield has signed a non-binding term sheet for up to $9 billion of that, contingent on Naver locking down additional financing. Nvidia's billion helps Naver check that box.
Naver and Nvidia had already struck a partnership in June 2026 focused on building sovereign AI infrastructure in South Korea. The investment deepens that relationship considerably, Naver said in the filing.
The deal aligns with the launch of Nvidia's DSX platform, which the company has branded as its "AI factory." The GAK Sejong deployment becomes a showcase for what Nvidia's technology can do at scale in a market where both government and private-sector capital are flowing into AI.
For Nvidia, the Naver investment fits a broader pattern of strategic capital deployment across Asia. The company has also established a commercial collaboration with SK Group, focused on next-generation memory chips, at a scale reportedly exceeding $500 billion.
By investing directly in Naver, Nvidia ensures a long-term customer for its hardware and platform services. Naver generated roughly KRW 12.04 trillion (about $8.18 billion) in revenue in 2025.
The risk is execution. A $10 billion financing package with a non-binding Brookfield commitment means this isn't a done deal. Naver needs to secure the remaining capital, close the Dunamu acquisition at the $10.3 billion valuation, and actually build out the data center capacity on schedule. The company declined to comment on a timeline for the remaining financing.
Naver shares rose 3.2% in Seoul trading after the announcement.
Drafted by a large language model from the source reporting linked above, then screened by automated publishing checks. It is not read by a journalist before publication. Some articles cite our Alpha Score. Verify prices and figures against the original source. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.