Naver Corporation

The global esports streaming market is projected to grow from USD 1.89 billion in 2025 to USD 5.24 billion by 2031, registering a compound annual growth rate of 17.97% between 2026 and 2031. Twitch held 39.14% of the market in 2025, while Kick is forecast to be the fastest-growing platform segment with an 18.02% CAGR through 2031. Asia-Pacific accounted for 41.59% of global market value in 2025, and North America is expected to be the fastest-growing regional market with a 19.38% CAGR through 2031. Key developments include Riot Games' five-year exclusive agreement with Naver and SOOP for League of Legends Champions Korea coverage from 2026 through 2030, and the Esports World Cup Foundation's USD 75 million prize pool for its 2026 tournament.

Nvidia will invest about $1.01 billion in South Korean internet company Naver to help finance an AI data center, taking a 4.5% stake in Naver once the deal closes. Nvidia, Naver, and U.S. private equity firm Brookfield are also in talks for Brookfield to provide up to $9 billion in additional funding for the project, with Naver covering the remaining costs. Naver shares jumped 8.2% on the news. The investment deepens Nvidia's push into Asia's AI buildout, following a separate series of deals with South Korean firms including Naver and SK Group to build large-scale AI infrastructure. CEO Jensen Huang said the three-way partnership is building sovereign AI infrastructure at the scale needed to fuel Korea's startups and industries. For Naver, the deal funds its AI factory project and arrived the same day the company said it will cancel 1.017 trillion won of treasury shares, a separate move to boost shareholder returns.

WEBTOON Entertainment Inc. guided third-quarter revenue of $358 million to $368 million and adjusted EBITDA of $0 million to $5 million during its second-quarter 2026 earnings call. The company reported Q2 revenue of $338.5 million, a 2.8% decline as reported but a 5.2% increase on a constant currency basis, with adjusted EBITDA of $5.5 million exceeding the high end of guidance. CEO Junkoo Kim announced a new strategic direction focused on AI-powered initiatives and scaling the off-platform IP adaptation business, including a $100 million IP Adaptation Fund with NAVER and a 60% majority stake in RI Games Holdings. CFO David Lee reiterated expectations of returning to double-digit revenue growth by the end of the fourth quarter, clarifying that the target applies to the exit rate rather than the full quarter. The company posted a net loss of $14.6 million, driven by higher income tax expense and increased marketing investment.

NVIDIA is pursuing more than $750 billion of new and potential AI agreements as it accelerates investments across the global computing ecosystem. A partnership with South Korean conglomerate SK Group is expected to generate more than $500 billion of business between the two companies, including plans to develop over 2 gigawatts of AI data centers on the Korean Peninsula. NVIDIA also agreed to invest $1 billion in South Korean internet and cloud services provider Naver to support an AI data center being developed with Brookfield. Separately, NVIDIA is considering a guarantee of as much as $250 billion to help OpenAI lease a proposed $500 billion, 10-gigawatt data center hub in Ohio being developed by a SoftBank Group subsidiary, and is discussing financing approximately $350 billion of OpenAI's processor purchases for the project. NVIDIA shares declined as much as 5.3% to $195.92 on Monday amid investor concerns over the company's increasing financing of its own customers.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the semiconductor industry will likely need to expand roughly ten times over the next decade to serve a future dominated by 100 billion AI agents and billions of robots, replacing today's roughly one billion human computing endpoints. Speaking in a Bloomberg interview, Huang framed the projection as his personal guess and stressed the need to scale supply chains with partners in Korea and globally. Nvidia announced a partnership with SK Group valued at over $500 billion covering memory consumption and AI supercomputer sales, with collaboration on HBM3, HBM4, and beyond, and plans to invest $1 billion in Naver Corp for a Korean AI data center. The company reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of $81.61 billion, up 85.2% year over year, and guided for approximately $91.0 billion in Q2 revenue.

Naver shares climbed about 10% in South Korean trading Monday after Nvidia agreed to invest $1 billion for a 4.5% equity stake in the internet company. The investment will support an expansion of Naver's artificial intelligence infrastructure, specifically its AI factory at the GAK Sejong data center. Nvidia will acquire the shares through a private placement priced at about a 1% discount to the prevailing market price, subject to customary closing conditions and Naver securing additional project financing. Brookfield is expected to provide up to $9 billion of financing for the development, bringing the project's planned investment to as much as $10 billion. The facility is targeted to reach 200 megawatts of capacity by 2028, strengthening Naver's AI computing capabilities, and will deploy Nvidia's Blackwell and Vera Rubin AI platforms.

Nvidia and South Korea's SK Group have expanded their collaboration with an initiative worth over $500 billion spanning AI data centers and next-generation memory. The partnership includes plans for SK Telecom to build a 2-gigawatt-scale AI Cloud in South Korea using the Nvidia DSX platform and Vera Rubin accelerated computing powered by SK hynix HBM4 chips, with the first AI factory expected online in 2027. SK hynix is also entering a long-term AI memory partnership with Nvidia to secure stable supply and co-develop next-generation solutions including High Bandwidth Memory. The deals are part of $750 billion in agreements signed by SK Group and contribute to South Korea's broader $950 billion in new AI initiatives involving Samsung, SK Group, and U.S. tech companies. Nvidia separately plans to invest $1 billion for a 4.5% stake in Naver, while Samsung has inked a memorandum of understanding worth more than $200 billion to supply Broadcom with memory and foundry chips through 2030.

South Korea's composite stock index closed nearly 1% higher today, as investors returned to buy technology shares amid easing tensions in the Middle East. The KOSPI finished at 6,755.75 points, up 65.13 points or 0.97%. Sentiment was boosted after the United States halted its two-week-long strikes on Iran, while Iran also ceased its retaliation and held talks with Oman on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, reducing geopolitical risks. Investor confidence was further supported by a meeting of top tech executives in San Francisco, led by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, where a combined investment deal worth 950 billion dollars was announced. Samsung Electronics shares rose 1.8%, SK hynix jumped 3.24%, Hanmi Semiconductor gained 2.25%, and Naver surged 8.43% after Nvidia announced a 1 billion dollar investment in a new joint data center project.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are preparing to announce major supply agreements with American technology companies during President Lee Jae Myung's visit to Silicon Valley. Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy Kim Yong-beom said the deals would likely include new long-term memory chip supply deals, strategic investment partnerships, and memorandums of understanding, though he declined to disclose their value. The agreements build on an $880 billion investment plan revealed last month by Seoul and backed by Samsung, SK Group, and Naver, aiming to cement South Korea's position in the global AI supply chain. The announcement comes two weeks after SK Hynix completed a $26.5 billion American depositary receipt offering, the largest first-time U.S. share sale by a foreign company, giving American investors direct access to the world's leading producer of high-bandwidth memory chips. On July 24, Samsung shares climbed 7.51% and SK Hynix gained 8.53% as the deal news overtook earlier macro jitters, highlighting how Korean memory stocks now move on South Korean diplomacy with a meaningful slice of ownership in American hands.

Vertiv shares surged 7% after South Korea announced a government-corporate plan to invest more than $1 trillion in semiconductor fabrication plants and AI data centers. Corporate spending accounts for the bulk, with Samsung and SK Hynix investing about $518 billion in new chip plants, while SK Group, GS Group, and Naver will invest about $356 billion in AI data centers. Vertiv, which generates about 20% of its sales in Asia and has a presence in South Korea, is seen as a key beneficiary of AI data center buildouts because its power systems infrastructure is embedded in Nvidia's architecture. Naver is a key partner of Nvidia, further linking Vertiv to the spending plans.

South Korea’s two largest memory chip makers, Samsung and SK Hynix, plan to invest $518 billion to build four new memory fabs in the southwestern region, part of a broader national investment plan unveiled at a presidential briefing on Monday. The overall plan includes an additional $52 billion for a high bandwidth memory packaging hub in the central region and $356 billion for AI data centers to be built by companies such as SK, GS, and Naver through 2035, bringing total commitments to over $900 billion. President Jae Myung Lee said existing chip facilities in Yongin and Pyeongtaek have reached their limits and urged accelerated investment in the southwest, while pushing back against reports of government pressure on companies. Samsung separately announced a 2,655 trillion won investment plan over the next decade, with 425 trillion won earmarked for the Honam region, and SK Group outlined a 2,100 trillion won medium-to-long-term roadmap, including 1,100 trillion won for semiconductor capacity expansion and 1,000 trillion won for AI data centers.

NVIDIA announced a series of deals in South Korea with tech giants including SK Hynix and Naver, aiming to secure memory chips for its AI ambitions, Reuters reported on June 8. The value of the deals, which also involved SK Telecom and Doosan Group, was not disclosed. Separately, on June 1, NVIDIA unveiled the RTX Spark PC chip, developed with MediaTek, that brings AI capabilities to desktops and laptops, with models from Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, Microsoft Surface, and MSI expected this fall.

Anthropic opened a Seoul office and announced a series of partnerships across South Korea's artificial intelligence ecosystem as the Claude developer expands in Asia ahead of a public listing. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT to collaborate on public-sector AI adoption, model safety testing, and cybersecurity threats. Major business groups including LG CNS, Hanwha Solutions, and Samsung SDS are deploying Claude, while NAVER uses Claude Code for software development and Nexon has integrated Claude into game development workflows. Anthropic will also provide Claude access to about 60 researchers at South Korea's National AI Research Lab for work on AI safety and frontier research. The Seoul office is led by Kiyoung Choi, who joined in May as Representative Director of Korea from Snowflake.