South Korean tech giant Naver announced on Thursday its plan to invest over 1 trillion won (approximately $692.9 million) in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure next year. The company aims to integrate AI agents into its core services, including shopping and search platforms, as part of its strategy to become a leading AI firm.

During a keynote speech at Naver's annual technology conference "DAN25" held in Seocho-dong, Seoul, CEO Choi Soo-yeon stated, "By combining Naver's AI software capabilities with South Korea's strong manufacturing competitiveness in semiconductors, automobiles, and batteries, we will accelerate AI-driven transformation and innovation across all industries."

Naver emphasized its commitment to enhancing AI ecosystem competitiveness by aggressively expanding investments in data centers and computing infrastructure. The company plans to build the largest and most advanced infrastructure in South Korea.

Specifically, Naver intends to allocate more than 1 trillion won solely for GPU investments next year. Additionally, the company will launch a physical AI testbed connecting its Seongnam headquarters with its Sejong data center in the second half of this year.

Recently, Naver secured 60,000 GPUs from NVIDIA, which last month announced plans to deploy 260,000 GPUs in South Korea.

Naver clarified in its press release, "While the GPU procurement timeline hasn't been finalized, we will continue efforts to secure as many GPUs as possible for AI technology development."