Korean-Designed AI Processors and Models to Build on NVIDIA NVLink Fusion and MGX Infrastructure for Rack-Scale Inference

News Summary:

• Rebellions plans to adopt NVIDIA NVLink Fusion to connect its next-generation R200 neural processing units to NVIDIA’s open infrastructure platform for rack-scale inference.
• SK Telecom plans to deploy these systems in its AI data center to support its vision for full-stack sovereign AI spanning infrastructure, proprietary models and public-facing services, including those under Korea’s “AI for All” project.
• The collaboration, supported by Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT, aims to connect domestic semiconductor innovation with infrastructure for sovereign AI.
   

NVIDIA, Rebellions and SK Telecom today announced a collaboration to advance Korea’s sovereign AI infrastructure — using NVIDIA NVLink Fusion™ to bring together NVIDIA’s open infrastructure platform, Rebellions’ Korean-designed AI processors and SK Telecom’s AI data center, model and service capabilities.

As part of the agreement, Rebellions will use NVLink Fusion to connect its Rebel R200 neural processing units (NPUs) to the NVIDIA platform, and harness the NVIDIA MGX™ rack architecture for rack-scale system development. SK Telecom plans to deploy these systems, drawing on its AI data center operations expertise, proprietary models and services.

Supported by Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), the collaboration aims to support AI services tailored to Korea’s language, industries and priorities, connecting Korean semiconductor development with the systems and operational capabilities needed to deliver AI at scale.

“Korea has the talent, technology and industrial ambition to become a world leader in AI,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Sovereign AI gives nations the power to turn their language, culture and expertise into intelligence. With NVLink Fusion, Korea’s chipmakers can connect their custom ASICs to NVIDIA’s AI factory platform, tightly coupling their processors with NVIDIA compute to run AI workloads. Together with MSIT, Rebellions and SK Telecom, we’re building the computing foundation for Korea to produce its own intelligence and power its next industrial revolution.”

“Today’s announcement marks a turning point, opening a new chapter for sovereign AI by connecting Korea’s AI silicon and models with global systems technology,” said Sunghyun Park, cofounder and CEO of Rebellions. “By integrating Rebellions’ purpose-built silicon and system design with NVIDIA’s NVLink Fusion, high-speed interconnects and rack-scale design expertise, and SKT’s model and data center operations capabilities, we will deliver low-latency and energy-efficient inference for frontier models at scale. As a leading Korean AI silicon startup, we will lead the charge to establish Korean technology as a core pillar powering AI worldwide.”

“This collaboration is meaningful in that it validates the potential of next-generation sovereign AI infrastructure by combining global AI infrastructure technology with Korean AI semiconductors,” said Jung Jai-hun, president and CEO of SK Telecom. “By linking SKT’s AI data centers, proprietary AI models including A.X K2, and public-facing AI services developed under the ‘AI for All’ project, we will strengthen our full-stack sovereign AI competitiveness and contribute to the growth of Korea’s AI ecosystem.”

Scaling Silicon Innovation With NVIDIA’s Open Infrastructure Platform
NVLink Fusion extends NVIDIA’s vertically integrated, horizontally open AI platform to custom XPUs. It enables chipmakers to combine specialized silicon with NVIDIA’s high-bandwidth, low-latency scale-up networking and established infrastructure ecosystem, helping improve performance, reduce deployment risk and accelerate time to market.

Rebellions is developing its next-generation R200 NPU, optimized for low-latency and energy-efficient inference using frontier models, including multitrillion-parameter mixture-of-experts models. Through NVLink Fusion, Rebellions will connect its R200 NPUs within a rack through NVIDIA NVLink™ scale-up networking.

The NVIDIA MGX rack architecture and reference designs will support development of the systems, while the MGX ecosystem gives Rebellions access to an established supply chain of original design manufacturers and component suppliers.

Connecting Infrastructure, Models and Services
SK Telecom brings experience building and operating AI data centers, alongside its proprietary foundation models and public-facing AI services. Building on its long-standing collaboration with NVIDIA in AI development and sovereign infrastructure, SK Telecom plans to connect these capabilities and deploy them in its AI data center using the standardized MGX rack architecture to deliver full-stack sovereign AI.

The MGX rack architecture provides a foundation for GPU and NPU systems to share data center design elements, including rack footprint, power delivery and cooling. This approach can support infrastructure planning alongside Rebellions’ processor and system development.

The companies plan to develop an approach to disaggregated inference, assigning different stages of AI response generation to the processor architecture best suited to each task. Their planned work includes using NVIDIA GPUs for prefill and Rebellions NPUs for decode to improve inference throughput and power efficiency.

SK Telecom plans to connect this infrastructure with its proprietary foundation models and public-facing services, including those under the government’s AI for All project, to advance its full-stack sovereign AI strategy.

Supporting Sovereign AI Infrastructure With NVLink Fusion
MSIT is supporting collaboration between NVIDIA and Korean NPU companies, beginning with Rebellions and SK Telecom, to strengthen Korea’s sovereign AI infrastructure.

“This collaboration with NVIDIA marks a significant step forward, as it enables Korean-developed NPUs to enter the computing infrastructure market alongside NVIDIA, a global leader in AI computing, through NVLink Fusion,” said Bae Kyung-hoon, Korea Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Science and Information and Communication Technologies. “The government will actively support this collaboration to deliver tangible results and further advance cooperation with NVIDIA across a range of areas, including physical AI and securing GPU supply.”

By connecting Korean-developed processors and models with NVIDIA infrastructure and SK Telecom’s data center expertise, the companies aim to establish a foundation for sovereign AI services across Korea’s public and private sectors.

Availability
Rebellions’ R200 systems are expected to be ready for deployment in 2028.