An office and two companies for the project
Hyundai Motor Group has inaugurated the HMG Saemangeum office in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, which according to the company will lead the AI data center project in Korea, described as a key element for the group's physical AI capabilities. The Korea Herald reports this, specifying that the sign-unveiling ceremony was attended by Shin Seung-kyu, vice president of Hyundai Motor Group's Robotics and Hydrogen Project Management Office, Gunsan Mayor Kim Jae-jun, and Moon Seong-yo, director of the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency.
The office houses two special-purpose companies jointly owned by group affiliates, including Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Autoever, which according to the source finalized their participation in the project the same day. Activities will be divided between a company dedicated to hyperscale construction and infrastructure development and a GPU services company for high-performance computing and cloud services oriented to physical and advanced automotive research.
Separating construction and computing to save time
The choice to keep construction and computing and software operations separate responds, according to the group, to the goal of accelerating project execution. The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for March, while operations are expected to begin in early 2030. In November the group will officially launch the three SPCs—the two just established and the one created the previous month for a 200-megawatt solar plant intended to supply clean energy to the data center.
The project is part of the 9 trillion won Saemangeum AI Valley initiative, about $6.72 billion, which integrates renewables, AI data centers, robotics and hydrogen and is presented as the strategic transition from a traditional automaker to a technology company. More than half of the total investment, 5.8 trillion won, is earmarked for the hyperscale AI data center.
What the facility will do and what remains to be clarified
According to the source, the facility will operate around the clock as a supercomputing hub to train and validate end-to-end autonomous driving algorithms, using real driving data and simulations of extreme weather conditions and unexpected road situations. For robotics, complex behavioral models will be trained in a digital twin environment, with the goal of improving spatial perception, decision-making, flexible responses and precision in controlling the joints of mobile and service robots. High-performance AI is also expected to streamline vehicle research, from initial design to virtual crash tests, aerodynamic analysis and thermal management.
Hyundai says it is in talks for technical partnerships with global companies, including Nvidia, and is coordinating financing with state institutions such as the Korea Development Bank. Shin cited the Saemangeum office as a demonstration of the group's commitment to the project. However, final agreements with technology partners, the conditions of public financing, and adherence to the announced schedule remain to be verified, and the material does not offer further details on them.
