Nvidia Deepens Its Global AI Footprint With a Massive South Korean Chip Deal

The world’s most valuable company is ramping up its international expansion, agreeing to supply up to 260,000 AI chips to South Korea’s biggest firms and the national government. The move cements Nvidia’s dominance outside China and underscores the growing wave of “sovereign AI” projects around the globe.

Nvidia $NVDA announced Friday that it will ship up to 260,000 of its AI chips to South Korean companies and government agencies. It's one of the largest contracts of its kind, designed to bolster the nation's AI infrastructure and accelerate the country's bid to become a global AI hub.

The announcement came during the summit APEC in Seoulwhere Nvidia struck deals with four of South Korea's largest corporations - Samsung, Hyundai, SK Group and NAVER Cloud. With the completion of these deals, the total number of Nvidia GPUs in the country will grow from 65,000 to more than 300,000 units.

Sovereign AI as a new global trend

The program is part of a global trend called. Sovereign AI - i.e. the drive by states to develop and operate their own AI infrastructure and models that are not dependent on foreign technology.

Nvidia expects that this segment could reach a value of up to 1.5 trillion dollarsand in fiscal year 2026 alone could bring the company more than $20 billion in revenue.

Nvidia has already entered into similar agreements in Europe, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates as well as in United Kingdom.. In each case, it is a strategic partnership that provides the company with access to government contracts and national data centres.

Replacing the lost China

The expansion in South Korea comes at a time when US-China trade war has effectively shut Nvidia out of the Chinese market - once a source of up to 25% of its revenue

"Without China, Nvidia needs to grow through global AI infrastructure - and that's what it's doing now," commented the analyst Gil Luria of D.A. Davidson.

Technology and economic network

Korea itself is also benefiting from the deals.

• Samsung a SK Hynix will use Nvidia's systems to develop and manufacture next-generation chips.

• Hyundai plans to deploy Blackwell chips in its autonomous vehicles and robotic platforms.

• NAVER Cloud will expand capacity by 60,000 GPUs, strengthening its competitiveness against global players such as AWS and Azure.

• The government, through Ministry of Science and ICT will purchase more than 50,000 GPUs for the National AI Centre to develop its own models and cloud services.

According to Nvidia, this collaboration "will help build a sovereign AI cloud right in the country and strengthen its technological independence," said Vice President Raymond Teh.

Shares continue to break records

Nvidia's shares rose by more than 11% and the company has become the world's first company with a market capitalization of over $5 trillion.

Nvidia is cementing its position as the world's most valuable company - and the most influential player in the AI era.