- Hyundai signs 9 trillion won Saemangeum investment deal.
- Project includes 50,000-GPU AI data centre.
- Plans cover robot factory, hydrogen and solar facilities.
- Construction targets 2027 start, completion by 2029.
South Korean government and Hyundai motor group signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday in plans to invest about 9 trillion won($6.26 billion) in a technology and energy complex somewhere in Saemangeum coastal reclamation area in North Jeolla Province, the land ministry said.
The agreement was closed at an event in the presence of President Lee Jae Myung and Hyundai Executive Chair Chung Euisun that was the most tangible move of the automaker to rebrand itself as a physical AI and clean energy company in addition to its automobile core.
Nobody owns a bigger 50,000-gpu Data Centre
The biggest of them is 5.8 trillion won on an AI data centre with 50,000 GPUs, which will serve to work on the development of autonomous vehicles, robot learning and smart factory systems. The 400 billion won shall finance a manufacturing plant of the robots that will be used as wearable or on the skin such as the Hyundai Robotics LAB.
The team will spend 1 trillion won on a 200-mega watt water electrolysis facility on clean hydrogen, and 1.3 trillion won on a megawatt squared solar facility. The data centre, solar farm and electrolysis plant will be constructed in 2027 with a target date of completion in 2029. The 2028 date is the beginning and the robot plant is likely to get finished in 2029 as well.
Saemangeum Becomes an Industrial Hub
Chang Jae-hoon, who leads the Hyundai Motor Group said during the signing that this new generation of industrial hub in Saemangeum "will be a turning point in the future of not just North Jeolla Province but also Korea."
He has further stated that the group, which is armed with manufacturing skills, along with the power of robotics, artificially intelligent and hydrogen power, is prepared to create a superior industrial ecosystem.
The Saemangeum is a decades-old land reclamation project on the west coast of South Korea, which developed an agricultural land into an industrial district to the poor Jeolla region and a political stronghold of President Lee.
NVIDIA Chips, Boston Dynamics and Strategy of Tariff Delight Wider AI Push
Friday deal is the continuation of a series of technology bets that Hyundai had made in the recent past. In October, the organization had settled on purchasing as many as 50,000 AI chips of NVIDIA to build an in-house AI manufacturing facility.
It had an annual production capacity of 30,000 units of humanoid robot units in January which it planned to achieve by 2028 via Boston Dynamics. The Saemangeum project is estimated to yield 16 trillion won in the economy and 71,000 employees as projected by Hyundai.
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Kang Seong-jin, KB Securities analyst said, "The market perception of Hyundai Motor is changing to a physical AI-led growth stock and not a traditional value stock. It is also a notable investment, as it represents the commencement of tangible implementation of its physical AI vision and is viewed as one of the strategic actions to hedge tariff risks."
