[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] Naver (NAVER(035420)) announced that it has secured most of the 200 MW of service capacity required for its global artificial intelligence (AI) factory project with NVIDIA by 2028. As domestic demand alone will be insufficient during the expansion phase to 1 GW, the company plans to partner with global partners to target the sovereign AI market.

During a conference call to announce second-quarter 2026 earnings on the 7th, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon responded to questions about the expansion schedule for AI data centers (AIDC) and the global business roadmap, stating, “Our specific targets are 55MW in the first half of 2027, 100MW by the end of 2027, and 200MW by 2028.”

She went on to explain, “To enter the market quickly up to the 200MW mark, we are proceeding by maximizing the use of externally leased space, and we have already secured the vast majority of this space.”

Naver also provided a detailed explanation of the expansion status of its own data center, “Gak Sejong.” CEO Choi stated, “Gak Sejong is broadly divided into two sites, and construction has been completed on one of them,” adding, “We are currently utilizing about one-third of the capacity within that site, and we are proceeding with a project to expand the remaining two-thirds.”

During the phase of expanding from 200 MW to 1 GW, the company will also proceed with in-house construction. CEO Choi explained, “In the subsequent phase of expanding to 1 GW, we plan to pursue a greenfield development strategy for in-house construction, including the expansion of the remaining two buildings.”

This is interpreted as a strategy to rapidly enter the market by utilizing externally leased space in the initial phase, and subsequently expand both its own infrastructure and global partnerships to meet large-scale demand.

He also outlined plans regarding the overseas business roadmap. Regarding the Middle East, CEO Choi stated, “We are currently in very concrete discussions with partners regarding data center construction and cloud specifications,” adding, “We will share details with the market as soon as they are finalized.”

Regarding South America, he drew a line, stating, “We are in the very early stages of discussions.” However, he emphasized that global partners are essential in the process of expanding capacity from over 200 MW to 1 GW.

Meanwhile, Naver posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue, recording 3.3888 trillion won in the second quarter—a 16.2% increase from the same period last year. However, operating profit fell 0.2% year-over-year to 520.3 billion won due to investments in AI infrastructure.