Nvidia bets $300 million on Korea's AI future with KAIST lab

Nvidia isn't just betting on AI anymore — it's betting on Korea.

The chipmaker will invest up to $300 million over the next five years to create an Nvidia-KAIST Joint AI Research Lab with Korea’s leading technology university, according to KAIST on Friday.

“This collaboration marks the defining of a strategic partnership that brings the world’s best AI research skills and high-tech AI infrastructure,” Bae Choong-sik, the head of KAIST said. “We will establish an anchor for global AI research and lead next-generation AI technology and researchers.”

According to KAIST, the joint lab will develop next-generation agentic AI tailored to the Korean language and to the country's domestic industries. 

The partnership will combine KAIST's AI researchers with Nvidia's AI technologies and Nvidia Nemotron open models, which are designed for reasoning, agentic AI and enterprise AI applications. It will leverage computing infrastructure provided by Nvidia Cloud Partners in Korea.

The lab will also select at least 10 researchers from KAIST to fund their research and offer internship opportunities in Nvidia, according to the school.

In addition to research funding, Nvidia plans to hire leading Korean AI researchers as full-time researchers.

Kim Hyun-woo, a postdoctoral researcher at Nvidia and an incoming assistant professor at KAIST's Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, will serve as the inaugural director of the joint lab. 

As the director, Kim will oversee the lab’s research direction and joint research between the school and the chipmaker.

“The new era of AI research requires tight integration of world-class researchers, infrastructure, academia and industry leaders,” said Kim. “We plan to not only attract but retain world-class AI scientists by supporting their ambitious long-term research projects with leading AI research labs around the world — with the help of Nvidia.”

BY LEE JI-WON [[email protected]]