Naver, the South Korean tech giant recognized for running the nation's leading search engine and digital platform, is broadening its global artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives into Latin America.
This week, company executives convened with Mexican government representatives and business leaders to discuss collaborative efforts focused on developing a regional AI ecosystem and speeding up industrial modernization.
Naver's CEO Choi Soo-yeon and other executives traveled to Mexico from Thursday to Friday as part of President Lee Jae Myung’s economic delegation, the company announced.
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Choi had a meeting with Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, the economy minister of Mexico, along with Rosaura Ruiz Gutiérrez, the minister of science, humanities, technology and innovation, and officials from the Agency of Digital Transformation and Telecommunications, as well as representatives from the Mexican IT firm Softtek.
Choi presented Naver’s capabilities for AI transformation in the public sector, the sovereign AI strategy, and the AI factory project in collaboration with Nvidia and Brookfield, while suggesting partnerships for Mexico’s public sector digital transformation and industrial competitiveness.
Ebrard mentioned that Mexico was increasing collaboration with international AI firms, such as Nvidia, and striving to grow its national AI sector. He conveyed optimism that Naver might enhance Mexico’s AI landscape and digital evolution.
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Choi also talked about collaborating with Ruiz regarding Mexico's initiative to establish a national high-performance computing and AI cluster, while Naver looks into potential projects in Querétaro, where over 70 percent of Mexico's data center infrastructure is located. Naver and regional representatives talked about a digital twin pilot initiative, as stated by the company.
The visit to Mexico was the first trip for Naver executives to the country to engage with government and business leaders as part of their efforts to investigate the market, following discussions in August with executives from Brazilian AI infrastructure firms Scala Data Centers and Tecto Data Centers and the Chilean telecommunications company Entel.
Earlier, Naver aims to enhance its artificial intelligence (AI) collaboration with France, suggesting joint efforts on AI infrastructure, industry-specific solutions, and cultural content during President Lee Jae Myung's trip to the nation.
During Lee’s visit, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon and Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won engaged with leaders from French firms and organizations in the sectors of media, information technology, energy, mobility, and finance.
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Choi identified three areas for collaboration at the Korea-France Business Roundtable in France on Tuesday: global AI infrastructure, industry-specific AI focusing on data sovereignty and security, and cultural content.