Naver Cloud pushes defense AI for battlefield use

June 11 (Asia Today) -- Naver Cloud is accelerating its push into the defense artificial intelligence market, aiming to build a sovereign AI system that can analyze battlefield data and support real-world military operations.

The company said Wednesday it presented its defense AI strategy at the Korea Defense Industry Development Expo, held the previous day at the Daejeon Convention Center. The seminar, titled "Defense AI Transformation Strategy Based on Sovereign AI," was aimed at defense, arms industry and information technology officials.

Naver Cloud said it plans to combine omnimodal AI, dedicated defense data centers and a Forward Deployed Engineer system to build AI capabilities that can be used in actual operational environments.

Yoo Kyung-beom, an executive director at Naver Cloud, presented the company's full-stack sovereign AI capabilities, covering data centers, cloud infrastructure, AI models and services.

Yoo identified HyperCLOVA X Omnimodal as a core technology for defense AI. The system is designed to integrate text, voice, video, maps and other data into a single operational picture.

"AI can comprehensively understand diverse data collected on the battlefield and turn it into information that supports commanders' decisions," Yoo said. "World model technology, which predicts possible changes in battlefield conditions, can improve situational awareness and operational judgment."

Naver Cloud also proposed a defense-specific AI infrastructure model. The company said a central data center could train integrated datasets from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Joint Chiefs of Staff, while edge data centers could be installed at frontline units, naval vessels and mobile command posts.

The company said such a structure would allow AI services to operate even in environments where communications are limited.

Naver Cloud also highlighted its Forward Deployed Engineer system as a distinguishing feature. Under the system, engineers would be deployed directly to customer sites to test and improve AI models quickly and support their use in actual military settings.

In a separate presentation, Naver Cloud executive director Chung Nak-soo stressed the importance of on-premises cloud systems and ontology-based knowledge frameworks.

"To support AI-based military decision-making, data scattered across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps must be connected and converted into a knowledge system that understands meaning and context, not just raw data," Chung said.

Chung also cited the U.S. military's Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative, AI-based targeting systems and recent overseas examples of military AI use, saying AI is becoming a core element of future command and control systems.

"To use the latest AI capabilities while preventing the external leakage of military secrets and operational data, a sovereign AI system based on on-premises cloud infrastructure is necessary," Chung said.

Naver Cloud said it plans to expand its defense-focused vertical AI business by using its full-stack capabilities across data centers, cloud systems, AI models and services.

A Naver Cloud official said the company would build "an ecosystem for deploying AI as military capability in real operational environments, going beyond AI development, based on sovereign AI and defense-specialized vertical AI."

-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260611010003823

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 4:41 PM.