Mistral AI Launches Business in Korea with Naver Cloud: Targeting Manufacturing AI

Partnership Formed for Manufacturing AI Innovation
Asia-Europe Alliance Joins Hands to Build Sovereign AI

Naver Cloud and Mistral AI have formed a strategic partnership. From left in the photo are Yu-won Kim, CEO of Naver Cloud, and Jeff Soon, APAC CEO of Mistral AI. Courtesy of Naver Cloud.

Naver Cloud and French company Mistral AI announced on July 8 that they have signed a partnership agreement to target the manufacturing artificial intelligence (AI) market.

The two companies are both members of the "Nemotron Alliance," which was established by Nvidia in partnership with major global companies, and already share the same technology ecosystem. Building on this foundation, they will jointly develop business opportunities, focusing on the manufacturing sector, where significant synergies are expected. Their plan is to target global manufacturing companies with sovereign AI solutions optimized for the data sovereignty and industrial characteristics of manufacturing sites in Europe and Asia, rather than relying on US-centric general-purpose AI.

This partnership is noteworthy as it marks an alliance between Asian and European companies to establish an independent sovereign AI business domain, at a time when the AI market is being reorganized around major US big tech firms.

Immediately after signing the agreement, the two companies held a joint workshop at Naver's second headquarters, "1784," with key technical staff in attendance. They initiated the development of a commercialization service launch plan and execution roadmap for the manufacturing sector. The research teams will continue to collaborate on research and development (R&D) and technical exchanges, jointly identifying AI challenges in the industrial field and creating a virtuous cycle of real-world validation and advancement.

Mistral AI is recognized for its manufacturing-specialized AI capabilities, having been proven in the global market through collaborations with major European manufacturers such as Airbus, BMW, and ASML. The two companies plan to combine their respective strengths to introduce sovereign AI solutions to the global market that can be immediately applied in real manufacturing environments.

As part of this collaboration, the two companies will also launch joint business activities in Korea. The latest models and platforms from Mistral AI, as well as a full-stack product suite, will be offered through the Naver Cloud Platform. In addition, Mistral AI will dispatch field-dedicated engineers (FDEs) directly to Korean client sites to provide technical support and resolve any issues that may arise.

In particular, the first priority will be to apply Mistral AI’s proven use cases from European manufacturing sites—such as real-time quality anomaly detection and parts selection optimization—to the Korean manufacturing environment. This will enable domestic manufacturing companies to effectively utilize global-level manufacturing AI technology in a secure environment, without exposing their data externally.

"This partnership is a practical business collaboration that combines Mistral AI’s globally proven, manufacturing-specialized technology with Naver Cloud’s stable infrastructure," said Yu-won Kim, CEO of Naver Cloud. "We will establish successful references in Korea, and, based on this experience, continue to pursue joint business opportunities in the global sovereign AI market."

Jeff Soon, APAC CEO of Mistral AI, commented, "Naver Cloud is the optimal partner to realize the manufacturing AI business together. By combining Mistral AI’s expertise gained in European manufacturing with Naver Cloud’s robust infrastructure, we will substantively support the AI transformation of manufacturing companies in Korea and around the world."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.