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Naver-led consortium to build next-gen AI data center in Morocco
Korean IT giant Naver said Friday that it has formed a global consortium with Nvidia, AI infrastructure specialist Nexus Core Systems and international investment firm Lloyds Capital to establish a next-generation AI data center in Morocco.
According to Naver, the consortium aims to build a 500-megawatt, renewable energy-powered data center that will serve as a sovereign AI computing hub for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
Morocco's strategic location, 15 kilometers from Europe and directly connected via multiple subsea fiber-optic cables, played a critical role in the site selection.
Naver Cloud, in collaboration with Nexus Core Systems and Lloyds Capital, will oversee the operation of the center's platform.
The consortium plans to offer a fully integrated suite of AI services and applications built on an advanced cloud infrastructure.
In line with the EMEA region's emphasis on data sovereignty, the center will support a sovereign cloud and AI architecture that ensures data is stored, processed and managed entirely within the local jurisdiction.
The first phase of the project is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. It includes the deployment of a 40-megawatt AI supercomputing infrastructure equipped with Nvidia's latest Blackwell GPUs, to be completed by year-end. The center will scale up in phases to reach its full 500-megawatt capacity.
To support the initiative, the consortium has signed a strategic power purchase agreement with energy firm TAQA, securing a stable and sustainable renewable energy supply for the facility.
'The latest partnership marks a pivotal moment for Naver as we extend our cloud and AI capabilities beyond Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East into the European market,' said Chae Sun-joo, head of strategic business division at Naver.
'We will continue to strengthen our global competitiveness and expand collaboration with partners to play a key role in the rapidly evolving AI value chain," she added.
