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Hyundai Motor Group will develop an AI data center in Saemangeum, in the South Korean city of Gunsan, after five group affiliates approved the investment. The project is part of the group's approximately 9 trillion won Saemangeum AI Valley development. Two special-purpose companies will launch in November to develop the facility and
Featured: Wide editorial visual of Hyundai corporate branding covering the company's Saemangeum AI data center project. sell GPU computing services.
The five affiliates are Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and Hyundai AutoEver. One of the new companies, the Data Center SPC, will oversee construction of the hyperscale data center and its infrastructure. The other, the GPU Service SPC, will secure high-performance GPUs and sell computing services. Hyundai AutoEver, the group's IT and software affiliate, confirmed its participation in the GPU Service SPC after a board resolution. That board approved the purchase of 1,146,080 shares in the GPU venture, named HMG AI Factory, for 114.6 billion won, a 26 percent stake paid in six installments from 2026 through 2031, according to a regulatory filing first reported by BigGo Finance.
The data center is planned in Section 7 of the Saemangeum National Industrial Complex, with a site area of about 150,000 square meters and about 100,000 square meters of floor space, MK reported. Hyundai Motor Group has allocated about 5.8 trillion won of the total to the data center and aims to secure computing capacity of more than 50,000 GPUs. BigGo Finance reported the facility is planned at a scale of 100MW.
In September, the group set up a special-purpose company for phase one of a 200MW solar project to supply the data center and started the building-plan review. Hyundai Motor Group signed a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean government and Jeonbuk State in February for the wider AI Valley, which also covers a robot manufacturing cluster, hydrogen production, and an AI hydrogen city.
The data center is intended to support Level 4 and higher autonomous driving, robot training in digital twin environments, and vehicle engineering such as crash testing and battery thermal management. "The HMG Saemangeum Office represents the Group's commitment to moving the project forward," said Seung Kyu Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of RH PMO at Hyundai Motor Group.
The group is coordinating financial support with the Korea Development Bank and other institutions. Baxtel tracks 132 data center facilities across South Korea, operated by 50 providers, with LG Uplus's Pyeongchon site the largest at 165 MW. After the SPCs launch, Hyundai Motor Group plans detailed design and permitting, with construction targeted to begin in March 2027 and services planned for early 2030.
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