Shinsegae Group, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates, has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Reflection AI, Inc., an American open intelligence lab, to build a sovereign AI cloud to serve enterprises and agencies across the east Asian nation. This includes building a 250 MW AI factory in Korea, powered by Reflection’s open-weight foundation models and NVIDIA’s GPUs.
The AI factory will equip the Korean government and enterprise with fully sovereign frontier capabilities built and operated on home soil, aiming to establish a new model for sovereign AI deployment. While Reflection will provide the technical expertise, including chips, models, and full-stack engineering, Shinsegae will secure the infrastructure needs including the factory’s physical architecture, real estate, power, permitting, and financing. The partnership has the support of both countries’ governments.
“The data center that we are building in partnership with Reflection AI will not only be a growth opportunity for Shinsegae, but also a pivot point for the Korean AI ecosystem,” said Chairman Yongjin Chun of Shinsegae Group.
“We have a narrow window to ensure the foundation of intelligence remains open and accessible to all, rather than controlled by a few,” said Misha Laskin, CEO and co-founder of Reflection. “South Korea is one of the most technologically ambitious nations in the world, and one of America’s closest allies in the Pacific. Together, we’re building AI infrastructure that the Republic of Korea can control, audit and evolve on its own terms.”
By deploying Reflection’s open-weight models, South Korea will retain broad visibility into the technology powering its most critical systems. In addition to meeting South Korea’s strict requirements for national autonomy, the partnership reinforces a vital geostrategic alliance between the United States and a valued Indo-Pacific partner. The pioneering venture, which will be executed in phases, is equal parts engineering and infrastructure.
