Korean AI firms team up on NPU-based sovereign AI appliance
FuriosaAI, Upstage, Orchestro Cloud, SPK and Daewon C&T will link the RNGD NPU and SOLAR model with Orchestro's cloud platform in a single environment.
Five Korean AI infrastructure companies signed a memorandum of understanding on October 19, 2026, to jointly develop and commercialize an NPU-based sovereign AI full-stack appliance, according to datanet.co.kr. The partners are FuriosaAI, Upstage, Orchestro Cloud, SPK Inc. and Daewon C&T.
The appliance is designed to combine AI computing, cloud infrastructure, model inference, and operations and management in one environment. It will link FuriosaAI's RNGD NPU and Upstage's SOLAR large language model with Orchestro Cloud's platform.
Each company has a defined role. FuriosaAI supplies NPU computing for AI inference, Upstage provides the model and inference technology through SOLAR, SPK handles server infrastructure and hardware, and Daewon C&T covers data center and network infrastructure. Orchestro Cloud will supply the cloud platform and lead technical verification, drawing on its CONTRABASS server virtualization solution and Ceph-based software-defined storage.
Beyond the appliance itself, the companies plan to develop a managed service covering operations and technical support, and to pursue joint sales, marketing, proof-of-concept work, benchmark testing and joint proposals aimed at public institutions and private companies.
The partners said the goal is to reduce reliance on foreign GPU and cloud technology and to give users independent control over their data and AI operations.
Quick answers
Which companies signed the sovereign AI appliance agreement?
FuriosaAI, Upstage, Orchestro Cloud, SPK Inc. and Daewon C&T signed the MOU on October 19, 2026.
What technology goes into the appliance?
FuriosaAI's RNGD NPU, Upstage's SOLAR LLM and Orchestro Cloud's cloud platform, including its CONTRABASS virtualization solution and Ceph-based storage.
What will the companies do besides building the product?
They plan a managed service for operations and technical support, along with joint sales, marketing, proof-of-concept and benchmark testing for public and private customers.