Press Releases July 23, 2026 07:00 PM

NVIDIA and KAIST Launch Joint AI Research Lab to Accelerate AI Innovation in Korea

NVIDIA Partners with KAIST to Launch Joint AI Research Lab in South Korea, Investing $300 Million Over Five Years

By Priya Menon
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NVIDIA and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) are establishing a joint AI research lab at KAIST's graduate school in Seoul, focusing on developing agentic AI models optimized for Korean language and industries. The collaboration involves $300 million over five years, including $50 million annually in compute resources, funding for KAIST researchers, internships at NVIDIA, and full-time roles for Korean talent to accelerate AI innovation and create pathways for local AI scientists.

NVIDIA and KAIST Launch Joint AI Research Lab to Accelerate AI Innovation in Korea
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Key Points

  • NVIDIA and KAIST launch a joint AI research lab dedicated to advancing AI models and systems tailored for South Korea's language and industries.
  • The initiative includes $300 million funding over five years, with $50 million per year in compute contributions from NVIDIA Cloud Partners.
  • The program aims to support at least 10 KAIST researchers annually, offering internships and full-time opportunities at NVIDIA, fostering AI talent retention in Korea.

News Summary:

  • NVIDIA and KAIST are launching a joint AI research lab at the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI in Seoul, dedicated to advancing agentic AI models and agent systems built for South Korea’s industries, language and future.
  • The collaboration includes compute contributions, funding for at least 10 KAIST researchers annually with NVIDIA internships, plus full-time NVIDIA roles for top Korean researchers — creating new pathways for Korea’s AI talent.
  • A core focus is developing models optimized for Korea, using NVIDIA Nemotron open models and local NVIDIA Cloud Partner infrastructure to build a pipeline from academic research to enterprise and national AI deployments.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SEOUL, July 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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.”

Full-Stack Infrastructure, Open Models and Collaboration Fuel Korea’s AI Future
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.

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. For more information, visit www.kaist.ac.kr.

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in AI and accelerated computing.

For further information, contact:
Corporate Communications
NVIDIA Corporation
[email protected]  

PR Office
KAIST
[email protected]

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the joint NVIDIA-KAIST research lab providing a foundation for the next frontier of AI research to accelerate AI models and agent systems built for Korea’s industries, language and future; expectations with respect to NVIDIA’s collaboration with KAIST; expectations with respect to growth, performance, availability, and benefits of NVIDIA’s products, services and technologies, and related trends and drivers; expectations with respect to technology developments, and related trends and drivers; projected market growth and trends; expectations with respect to AI and related industries; and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic and political conditions; NVIDIA’s reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test NVIDIA’s products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to NVIDIA’s existing products and technologies; market acceptance of NVIDIA’s products or NVIDIA’s partners’ products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of NVIDIA’s products or technologies when integrated into systems; NVIDIA’s ability to realize the potential benefits of business investments or acquisitions; and changes in applicable laws and regulations, as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company’s website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

© 2026 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo and Nemotron are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a414b7ed-4e56-4b3e-b323-4737d489e2b0


Risks

  • Dependence on sustained financial and compute resource commitment from NVIDIA over several years.
  • Potential challenges in scaling academic AI research into practical enterprise and national deployments.
  • Global economic or geopolitical factors affecting cross-border collaborations and research initiatives.

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