[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] Naver (NAVER(035420)) has set out to expand into the European market by proposing collaboration on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and industry-specific AI solutions to major French companies and institutions. The company plans to extend its 1GW-class AI factory concept—currently being developed with NVIDIA and Brookfield—to Europe and combine France’s energy, industrial, and cultural assets with Naver’s AI technology.

Naver announced on the 9th that CEO Choi Soo-yeon and Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won met with CEOs of major French companies in the media, IT, energy, mobility, and finance sectors during the President’s state visit to France to discuss collaboration opportunities in AI and content.

In her opening remarks at the Korea-France Business Roundtable held on the 8th (local time), CEO Choi emphasized cooperation in three areas: global AI infrastructure, industry-specific AI with data sovereignty and security, and cultural content.

He proposed cooperation with France on AI infrastructure, noting that Naver recently announced plans to build a global AI factory with a capacity of over 1 GW in partnership with NVIDIA and Brookfield.

CEO Choi said, “We want to combine France’s stable energy infrastructure with Naver’s experience in the AI ecosystem to jointly build an AI factory that European companies and startups can utilize.”

Proposal for Collaboration on Industry-Specific AI and Sovereign AI

Naver also highlighted its experience in integrating industry-specific data and expertise into AI for practical business applications as a key area for collaboration with France.

CEO Choi introduced “BOKI,” a finance-specific AI developed in collaboration with the Bank of Korea, and “Hy-NuRI,” a nuclear power plant-specific AI developed in partnership with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power. Hy-NuRI is an example of an AI specialized for nuclear power plant operations, implemented in an environment isolated from external networks.

Based on this experience, Naver explained that it can support French companies and institutions in building industry-specific AI that ensures data sovereignty and security. This is interpreted as a strategy to respond to the growing demand for sovereign AI in Europe.

Cooperation in the content sector also emerged as a key agenda item. CEO Choi highlighted the achievements of Naver Webtoon, which has released over 70 original works in France and garnered more than 2 million readers.

He expressed a desire to collaborate—leveraging technological capabilities such as the global webtoon platform and the copyright protection AI “ToonRadar”—to ensure that works created jointly by creators from both countries can reach readers worldwide.

$100 Million Content Fund Also Announced

CEO Choi also attended the “Lumière Summit,” an international film and video summit held in Saint-Paul-de-Vence in southern France, as a speaker on the 7th.

At the event, he introduced the “IP Adaptation Fund,” a $100 million global content fund jointly established by Naver and Webtoon Entertainment. He explained that the fund will make direct investments to help creators’ stories grow into global franchises spanning film, animation, and games.

Naver also took this visit as an opportunity to sign a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA). The two parties will jointly explore ways to integrate Naver’s AI technology with INA’s audiovisual archives to efficiently analyze and organize content, enabling users to easily search for and utilize the materials they need.

France also serves as Naver’s European hub for AI research and investment. At Naver Labs Europe in Grenoble, France, Naver is conducting research on cutting-edge technologies such as robotics AI and multimodal foundation models.

Naver is also continuing its business collaboration with Mistral AI, a French AI company it invested in during 2024, in the field of sovereign AI specialized for the manufacturing sector. The company plans to use this visit as an opportunity to further expand its areas of cooperation in France, encompassing AI infrastructure, industry-specific AI, and content.