Hyundai is planning to invest approximately ₩10 trillion ($7.5bn) in South Korea’s Saemangeum development zone, where it intends to develop an integrated AI data center campus.

According to local reports, the company is close to signing a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Korean ministries of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Environment, with funding to be deployed over five years. National and provincial authorities are expected to support permitting, land access, and renewable energy infrastructure.

Located between Gunsan and Buan and covering 409 square kilometers (157 square miles), the zone would also comprise facilities for green hydrogen production and robotics research. However, the data center is expected to account for the largest share of the investment.

If built, the AI facility is expected to support Hyundai’s autonomous vehicle and robotics programs, which generate vast volumes of sensor and driving data that require high-performance computing for training, simulation, and validation.

Hyundai has already committed to deploying 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs to expand its AI capabilities, with Saemangeum being considered as a base for the infrastructure.

To power the facility and the broader development zone, the Korean government plans to establish up to 10GW of renewable energy capacity in the area by 2030, designed to attract energy-intensive facilities such as AI data centers.

The development would also sit alongside Hyundai’s hydrogen vehicle activities in Jeollabuk-do, where the company operates commercial hydrogen vehicle production in Jeonju.

Hyundai said discussions with the government are ongoing and that no final details have been confirmed. If completed, the project would mark one of South Korea’s largest AI-focused data center investments tied directly to automotive and robotics research.

Hyundai has announced several large-scale investment packages over the past few years to support AI development in South Korea. In November, the company, alongside Samsung, announced around $400bn in domestic investments in AI.