NVIDIA and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have announced the launch of a joint AI research laboratory at the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI in Seoul, dedicated to advancing agentic AI for South Korea . The $300 million collaboration will bring together NVIDIA's full-stack AI expertise, Nemotron open models, and AI Cloud partner computing with KAIST's research talent .
NVIDIA and KAIST launch a $300 million joint AI research lab at the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI in Seoul, dedicated to agentic AI for South Korea .
The collaboration includes $50 million per year in compute contributions across a five-year period .
The lab will fund at least 10 KAIST researchers annually, provide internships, and offer full-time NVIDIA positions for top Korean talent .
A core focus is developing AI models optimized for the Korean language and Korea-specific use cases using NVIDIA Nemotron open models .
Hyunwoo Kim, an incoming KAIST faculty member and former NVIDIA researcher, will serve as the lab's founding director .
The partnership is part of South Korea's broader push to secure core AI technologies and strengthen industrial competitiveness .
NVIDIA and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) today announced the launch of a joint AI research laboratory at the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI in Seoul, dedicated to advancing agentic AI for South Korea .
The collaboration will establish a robust academic AI research program, bringing together NVIDIA full-stack AI expertise, NVIDIA Nemotron™ open models and NVIDIA AI Cloud partner computing with the world-class scientific talent at KAIST, one of Asia’s premier research universities .
"Korea is home to leading AI researchers and is one of the world’s most advanced technology ecosystems," said Bill Dally, chief scientist and senior vice president of research at NVIDIA. "The joint NVIDIA-KAIST research lab will provide a foundation for the next frontier of AI research to accelerate AI models and agent systems built for Korea’s industries, language and future" .
"AI research is entering a new era — one that requires frontier talent, large-scale infrastructure and deep collaboration across academia and industry," said Hyunwoo Kim, incoming faculty member at the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, who will serve as head of the joint NVIDIA-KAIST lab upon joining KAIST. "Together, NVIDIA and KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI will pursue ambitious work that helps Korea attract and retain top AI scientists while building lasting ties with NVIDIA’s global research organization" .
The lab will be established at the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI in Seoul. KAIST, headquartered in the tech hub of Daejeon, has a strong focus on public research spanning engineering, AI, semiconductor technology, robotics and digital humanities .
The joint lab plans to fund at least 10 KAIST researchers annually and provide each with internship opportunities at NVIDIA. In addition, NVIDIA plans to hire exceptional Korean researchers for full-time positions. Together, these efforts will create stronger pathways for Korea’s top AI talent to pursue ambitious research, build long-term careers and deepen global collaboration between academia and industry .
The $300 million collaboration is expected to include $50-million-per-year compute contributions across an initial five-year period. Compute infrastructure from local NVIDIA Cloud Partners will provide researchers with direct access to the latest NVIDIA AI infrastructure .
Among the lab’s priorities will be developing models optimized for the Korean language and Korea-specific use cases, with NVIDIA Nemotron open models to advance the country’s AI capabilities, fostering a pipeline from academic discovery to enterprise and national AI deployments .
The announcement comes as South Korea steps up investment in AI infrastructure, research, and industrial applications, with a coordinated push to build both research depth and industrial capacity . The partnership is part of KAIST's long-term effort to secure core AI technologies for Korea and strengthen the country's industrial competitiveness .
This joint lab represents the first collaboration of its kind between a U.S. technology company and a South Korean university . Jensen Huang first proposed collaborating with KAIST during the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit, leading to the creation of the joint research institute less than a year later .
About KAIST
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is a public research university in Daejeon, South Korea. Founded in 1971, KAIST is consistently ranked among Asia's top universities in science and engineering and has produced many of Korea's leading scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs .
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA is the world leader in AI and accelerated computing.
