Buying Clients: NVIDIA Invests $1B in South Korea’s National AI Factory

NVIDIA is expanding its market retention tactics through direct investments in its partners’ capital. On July 26, 2026, it was revealed that the corporation plans to invest $1 billion in new shares of Korean IT giant NAVER to expand the Sovereign AI Factory to 200 MW.

This is a logical development of the $950B AI deals announced by the South Korean government a day earlier. By injecting $1 billion into NAVER's capital, NVIDIA is effectively buying the loyalty of the largest regional hub. Instead of merely selling server racks, the American company becomes a co-owner of the infrastructure that will serve Physical AI and the Asian public sector. This is a signal for the entire B2B market: Sovereign Computing requires massive partnerships where the line between hardware supplier and buyer is completely erased.

Source: Reuters / NVIDIA / NAVER