NVIDIA, Rebellions, and SK Telecom have announced a strategic collaboration to strengthen South Korea’s sovereign AI infrastructure by combining advanced AI computing technologies, locally developed semiconductor processors, and data center capabilities. The initiative will leverage NVIDIA NVLink Fusion to integrate Rebellions’ Korean-designed AI processors with NVIDIA’s open infrastructure platform, enabling large-scale AI inference systems.
Under the collaboration, Rebellions plans to integrate its next-generation Rebel R200 neural processing units (NPUs) with NVIDIA’s NVLink Fusion technology. The company will also utilize NVIDIA’s MGX rack architecture to develop rack-scale computing systems designed to support demanding AI workloads. SK Telecom intends to deploy these systems within its AI data centers, combining its infrastructure expertise with proprietary AI models and public-facing services.
The initiative has received support from South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), reflecting the government’s efforts to strengthen domestic semiconductor innovation and establish an independent AI ecosystem. The collaboration aims to develop AI capabilities tailored to the country’s language, industrial requirements, and national priorities.
“Korea has the talent, technology and industrial ambition to become a world leader in AI,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Sovereign AI gives nations the power to turn their language, culture and expertise into intelligence. With NVLink Fusion, Korea’s chipmakers can connect their custom ASICs to NVIDIA’s AI factory platform, tightly coupling their processors with NVIDIA compute to run AI workloads. Together with MSIT, Rebellions and SK Telecom, we’re building the computing foundation for Korea to produce its own intelligence and power its next industrial revolution.”
Also Read: CrowdStrike and Dell Technologies Unveil Integrated AI Protection for Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA
NVIDIA NVLink Fusion to Connect Korean AI Processors
The collaboration will enable Rebellions to combine its specialized semiconductor technology with NVIDIA’s high-speed networking and computing infrastructure. NVLink Fusion is designed to connect custom processors with NVIDIA’s broader AI ecosystem, supporting high-bandwidth, low-latency communication and helping accelerate the development of AI computing systems.
Rebellions is developing its R200 NPU to deliver energy-efficient, low-latency inference for advanced AI models, including multitrillion-parameter mixture-of-experts models. By integrating these processors through NVIDIA NVLink networking, the companies aim to improve computing performance and support more efficient AI workload execution.
NVIDIA’s MGX rack architecture and reference designs will provide the infrastructure foundation for system development. The platform will also give Rebellions access to an established network of original design manufacturers and component suppliers.
“Today’s announcement marks a turning point, opening a new chapter for sovereign AI by connecting Korea’s AI silicon and models with global systems technology,” said Sunghyun Park, cofounder and CEO of Rebellions. “By integrating Rebellions’ purpose-built silicon and system design with NVIDIA’s NVLink Fusion, high-speed interconnects and rack-scale design expertise, and SKT’s model and data center operations capabilities, we will deliver low-latency and energy-efficient inference for frontier models at scale. As a leading Korean AI silicon startup, we will lead the charge to establish Korean technology as a core pillar powering AI worldwide.”
SK Telecom to Strengthen Full-Stack Sovereign AI Capabilities
SK Telecom will play a central role in connecting the new computing infrastructure with its AI data centers, proprietary foundation models, and AI-powered services. The company plans to use NVIDIA’s standardized MGX rack architecture to integrate GPU and NPU systems while maintaining common infrastructure elements, including power delivery, cooling, and rack configurations.
The companies also plan to explore disaggregated inference, an approach that assigns different stages of AI response generation to processors best suited for specific workloads. Under the proposed architecture, NVIDIA GPUs will handle the prefill stage, while Rebellions NPUs will manage the decode stage. This approach is intended to improve inference throughput and power efficiency.
SK Telecom also plans to connect the infrastructure with its proprietary foundation models, including A.X K2, and public-facing AI services developed under South Korea’s government-backed AI for All project.
“This collaboration is meaningful in that it validates the potential of next-generation sovereign AI infrastructure by combining global AI infrastructure technology with Korean AI semiconductors,” said Jung Jai-hun, president and CEO of SK Telecom.
“By linking SKT’s AI data centers, proprietary AI models including A.X K2, and public-facing AI services developed under the ‘AI for All’ project, we will strengthen our full-stack sovereign AI competitiveness and contribute to the growth of Korea’s AI ecosystem.”
Government Support for South Korea’s Sovereign AI Strategy
South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT is supporting collaboration between NVIDIA and domestic NPU developers, beginning with Rebellions and SK Telecom. The initiative is intended to connect local semiconductor development with global AI computing infrastructure and strengthen the country’s position in the international AI market.
“This collaboration with NVIDIA marks a significant step forward, as it enables Korean-developed NPUs to enter the computing infrastructure market alongside NVIDIA, a global leader in AI computing, through NVLink Fusion,” said Bae Kyung-hoon, Korea Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Science and Information and Communication Technologies. “The government will actively support this collaboration to deliver tangible results and further advance cooperation with NVIDIA across a range of areas, including physical AI and securing GPU supply.”
Rebellions‘ R200 systems are expected to be ready for deployment in 2028. Once operational, the infrastructure is expected to support sovereign AI services across South Korea’s public and private sectors, while strengthening the country’s domestic AI semiconductor ecosystem.
The collaboration highlights the growing importance of sovereign AI infrastructure as governments and enterprises seek greater control over computing resources, AI models, and data processing capabilities. By combining locally developed processors with established global computing technologies, South Korea is working toward a more independent and scalable AI ecosystem.
