Hyundai opens an office to advance its Saemangeum AI data center
Hyundai Motor Group has opened a project office in Gunsan, South Korea, for its planned Saemangeum AI data center. The group plans separate companies for construction and computing services, with construction targeted for March 2027 and operations for early 2030. The center is intended to train autonomous-driving and robot systems and support vehicle engineering.
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Gunsan office will coordinate local preparations
Hyundai Motor Group has opened the HMG Saemangeum Office in Gunsan, in South Korea’s North Jeolla Province, as the local base for a planned artificial-intelligence data center. The office is located at the Future Mobility Tech Center of the Jeonbuk Institute of Automotive Convergence Technology, an automotive research institution. It will coordinate permitting, construction preparation and communication with local governments, relevant agencies and project partners. Hyundai announced the opening on October 30, when group executives and local officials attended a signboard ceremony.[1], [2]
Two companies divide construction and computing
The group plans two special-purpose companies with Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai AutoEver participating. One will oversee data-center construction and infrastructure; the other will procure high-performance graphics processing units, or GPUs, and provide computing services. Hyundai’s announcement places their establishment in November and detailed design and permitting afterward. Technical cooperation with outside partners and potential financial support remain under discussion. Construction is targeted for March 2027, with services planned for early 2030.[1], [2]
A separate company was established in September for the first phase of a 200-megawatt solar project intended to supply the center. The broader Saemangeum AI Valley plan combines the computing facility with robotics manufacturing, clean hydrogen production through water electrolysis and solar generation. The Korea Herald puts the data-center allocation at 5.8 trillion won within the wider 9 trillion won initiative.[1], [2]
The Korea Herald identifies Nvidia among the companies involved in technical partnership discussions and the Korea Development Bank, a state-run financial institution, among potential financing counterparts. The office opening included group executive Shin Seung-kyu, Gunsan Mayor Kim Jae-jun and Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency Director Moon Seong-yo. The agency is involved in the development of the Saemangeum area.[2]
Driving and robot models are planned workloads
Hyundai intends to use the center for repeated training and validation of autonomous-driving algorithms, combining actual road information with synthetic examples of extreme weather and unexpected conditions. Robot behavior models would be trained in digital twins, virtual replicas of physical environments. Planned tasks include turning visual and language inputs into physical actions, supporting mobile and service robots, and controlling multiple joints in precision manufacturing. Vehicle engineering would use the same computing base for design, virtual crash testing, aerodynamic analysis and battery thermal management. These are intended applications of the future facility.[1], [2]
