Reflection AI and Shinsegae to Build Landmark $6.8 Billion AI Factory in South Korea

Reflection AI and Shinsegae Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a 250-megawatt Sovereign AI Factory in the Republic of Korea. This project represents an investment of over 10 trillion Korean won, approximately $6.8 billion, making it the largest AI-dedicated data center in the country. Supported by both the United States and Korean governments, the partnership aims to provide frontier AI capabilities without compromising national security. The facility will utilize Reflection AI frontier open-weight models and NVIDIA GPUs to serve enterprises and government agencies. Reflection provides the technical expertise and model architecture, while Shinsegae handles the infrastructure, power, and real estate. This collaboration allows the Republic of Korea to control, audit, and evolve its AI infrastructure on its own terms.

This venture is the first major transaction under the American AI Exports Program, a 2025 initiative designed to export U.S. technology ecosystems to allied nations. By providing open-weight models, the U.S. aims to establish American technology as the global standard while countering the influence of foreign competitors. The partnership reinforces a vital geostrategic alliance between the two nations in the Pacific region.

For Shinsegae Group, this project marks a dramatic expansion into the AI infrastructure business. Historically a retail conglomerate, the company now seeks to become a primary cloud service provider for the Korean ecosystem. Chairman Yongjin Chun described the data center as a pivot point that will integrate AI into retail, logistics, and payments. Reflection AI, recently valued at $20 billion, continues its trajectory as a leading provider of open intelligence. The company focuses on training massive Mixture-of-Experts models that remain accessible to the global research community. As other nations seek technological self-sufficiency, this Sovereign AI Factory model offers a blueprint for democratic AI infrastructure.