A transformative wave in Asia’s AI landscape
In a major move that underscores how the AI arms-race is now fully global, Nvidia has announced deals to supply over 260,000 of its latest Blackwell AI chips to South Korea’s government and leading corporate groups including Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group and Naver.
The agreement, disclosed during the 2025 APEC Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, is a signal of how Nvidia is pivoting into regions less exposed to U.S.–China export restrictions and focusing on broader deployment of its AI infrastructure.
Key elements of the deal
- South Korea’s government will receive about 50,000 of the chips to build a “sovereign AI computing centre”.
- Samsung, SK Group and Hyundai will each get up to 50,000 units for smart-manufacturing, robotics, and autonomous-vehicle applications.
- Naver will acquire 60,000 chips to bolster its cloud/AI infrastructure.
- While exact dollar values weren’t officially disclosed, estimates place the deal in the US$7-10 billion range.
Why this matters
For Nvidia, this deal reinforces its dominance in the AI-compute value chain at a time when export restrictions limit its ability to serve China’s highest-end markets. By shifting focus to South Korea and other allied markets, Nvidia is both hedging geopolitical risk and extending its growth runway.
For South Korea, the deal is part of its national strategy to become a regional AI powerhouse — not just in memory chips or cars, but in AI infrastructure, industrial automation and next-gen applications.
Strategic and industrial ripple-effects
- Supply-chain implications: The move ties Nvidia’s ecosystem more tightly into South Korea’s manufacturing ecosystem. Smart factories, autonomous vehicles and industrial AI could accelerate.
- Geopolitical angle: As U.S.–China tensions over semiconductors persist, the deal positions South Korea (and Nvidia) on a strategic axis of technology cooperation that might shift regional power dynamics.
- Competitive pressure: Asian tech giants not involved in the deal may feel pressure to catch up, accelerating AI arms-investment across the region.
Challenges and caveats
- Export rules and global chip regulation still pose uncertainties — especially if U.S. policy further restricts distribution to China or third countries.
- Implementation risk is non-trivial: integrating 260,000 advanced chips into production, national infrastructure and cloud systems is complex.
- As with many large tech deals, the headline figure is large but execution, timelines and delivering tangible ROI will be the real test.
What’s next to watch
- How fast the chip shipments arrive and how quickly South Korea’s national AI centre goes live.
- The actual application of the hardware in industries: how Samsung, Hyundai and SK deploy it for manufacturing, EVs, robotics.
- Whether similar deals emerge in Japan, Southeast Asia or other tech-savvy economies as Nvidia looks to replicate the model.
- The broader impact on global AI competition: will this accelerate divergence (e.g., U.S/allied vs China) in AI infrastructure and capabilities?
The bottom line
Nvidia’s latest Asia deals mark a turning point: from pure technology vendor to strategic partner in national and industrial AI infrastructure. By aligning with South Korea’s ecosystem and scaling at such volume, Nvidia is positioning itself at the heart of the next phase of global AI deployment — while the rest of the world watches to see if the hype becomes outcome.
