Korea’s AI Factory Has an Owner and an Operator, in a Bite

Naver had to prove $9 billion of computing infrastructure to unlock Nvidia’s money, and it proved it with Brookfield’s capital.

• The agreement was signed on 27 October. A special purpose vehicle tentatively named Asset Co buys the GPUs and the data halls.
• Naver held 8.4 trillion won of cash and short term instruments at the end of June. The condition was roughly 12 trillion won of infrastructure.
• The first 55MW goes live in the first half of 2027, rising to 200MW in 2028, on a long term path to a gigawatt at GAK Sejong.
• Nvidia’s $1 billion of equity was conditional on the $9 billion being secured, and Naver will move quickly to complete the share allotment.
• Brookfield runs more than $1 trillion in assets and owns real assets for a living, so the vehicle is a familiar shape on its books.

Korea keeps the site, the power and the operators. The metal sits on an asset manager’s balance sheet, which is a different kind of sovereignty. Read the full analysis.