Direct-to-chip cooling becomes a colocation deal-closer

LG CNS is installing direct-to-chip cooling at its Samsong Data Center in Goyang, South Korea, to support Naver Cloud's planned deployment of Nvidia Vera Rubin AI compute systems, The Korea Herald reports. The AI infrastructure is owned by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Science and ICT, and Naver Cloud signed a colocation lease for the site in April valued at 603.4 billion won ($441 million) over ten years, subject to inflation adjustments. The Samsong campus runs 80MW across two blocks of 50MW and 30MW, which LG CNS built for Igis Asset Management starting in August 2023 and expanded in December 2025 before taking over operations in April, the same month Naver Cloud signed its lease. The direct-to-chip deployment is the firm's first liquid cooling system and, according to Data Center Dynamics, is expected to be one of the largest of its kind in South Korea. "Working with Naver Cloud, we will continue building core infrastructure that supports the growth of South Korea's AI ecosystem," said Jo Heon-hyeok, executive vice president of LG CNS's data center business division.

Naver Cloud already takes capacity at LG CNS's Jukjeon center and runs its own "Gak" data center, and in June 2026 said it would add 55MW of Nvidia hardware to its South Korea AI infrastructure. It lists six cloud regions in South Korea plus additional regions in Japan, Germany, Singapore, and the US, with future plans in Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Middle East. The lease, tied to state-owned AI infrastructure, makes plain what the AI buildout now runs on: cooling is becoming a gate alongside power. As this publication has argued, power politics now sets the calendar for data center construction; the Samsong deal suggests thermal management is arriving as a second gate.

LG CNS's first direct-to-chip deployment is the evidence: the firm built and operates the campus, yet it is installing new liquid cooling rather than relying on the air handling already in place. Nvidia's Vera Rubin systems are driving cooling requirements beyond what conventional air systems can provide, and operators with proven liquid cooling capability will have the upper hand in colocation negotiations. The 10-year, 603.4 billion won commitment from Naver Cloud suggests this capability is already translating into revenue. An inflation-linked lease with a government-owned compute estate turns first-hand cooling expertise into a decade of recurring revenue.