"The Google of South Korea" challenges Amazon and Google.

Naver, the company that owns the dominant search engine in South Korea, asserts that it is a strong partner for countries that are hesitant to use US or Chinese cloud systems for security reasons.

Naver, the conglomerate that owns the dominant search engine in South Korea and is often referred to as the "Google of the land of kimchi," is making a bold move: offering its cloud services to the Middle East and Southeast Asia as a viable alternative to American and Chinese tech giants.

Kim Yuwon, CEO of Naver Cloud, asserted that the company could be a strong partner for countries hesitant to use US or Chinese cloud systems for security reasons.

Naver's competitive advantage lies in its ability to customize AI services for each individual country and maintain control over its own data – something that the general AI models of major players often overlook.

According to Synergy Research Group, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google dominate over 60% of the global cloud computing market, while Alibaba and Tencent control the Chinese market.

Many countries concerned that Washington could access data stored on US cloud systems are shifting towards so-called " sovereign AI"—where they build or own their own systems and store data locally.

Naver argues that it can provide deeper control over many aspects, from data centers to applications, offering greater autonomy than its US counterparts.

To realize this ambition, Naver plans to invest more than 1 trillion won (US$690 million) this year to expand its AI infrastructure, including purchasing 60,000 of Nvidia's most advanced Blackwell GPU chips. The company currently operates cloud regions in Germany, Japan, Singapore, and the United States, and plans to expand to Taiwan (China), Thailand, and Vietnam.

In particular, a 500 MW data center is being built in Morocco. Kim Yuwon emphasized that customization is crucial because each country has different social issues, political contexts, religious beliefs, and value systems.

Naver's stock has risen 20% over the past 12 months driven by expectations in its AI segment. HSBC analyst Junhyun Kim predicts that revenue from Naver's GPU leasing business could exceed 1 trillion won by 2030.

However, Professor Wi Jong-hyun from Chung-Ang University expressed skepticism. He argued that developing sovereign AI requires massive amounts of data from host countries, something Naver might struggle with.

(VNA/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/google-cua-xu-so-kim-chi-thach-thuc-amazon-va-google-post1087849.vnp