LG集团通过非上市子公司PADO进入GPU中介(GPU brokerage/GPUaaS)市场，捆绑AI数据中心冷却、供电、建造运营的turnkey方案

LG Corp. (003550) has entered the market for brokering graphics processing unit transactions in a move read as a push to strengthen its turnkey solutions business for artificial intelligence data centers. The plan is to widen the business beyond supplying cooling and power equipment to cover everything from securing GPUs to building and operating data centers. Through PADO, a company spun off from LG Electronics (066570), the group expects to begin realizing "One LG" synergy by combining the technologies and customer networks of its affiliates.
GPU brokerage connects operators that own GPUs with AI companies that want to rent them. Suppliers reduce idle equipment, while users secure computing resources without buying expensive GPUs outright. According to U.S. research firm Grand View Research, the global GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) market is projected to grow from about $5.1 billion (about 6.8 trillion won) this year to about $14.5 billion (about 19.3 trillion won) in 2033, an average annual growth rate of about 16%. The figure covers the entire GPU rental and service market, not brokerage fees alone.
Amazon Web Services and Microsoft are already in the GPU rental market. U.S. firms Vast.ai and Shadeform compare and broker GPUs from multiple operators, and Nvidia last year unveiled DGX Cloud Lepton, which links cloud providers with AI developers.
As a latecomer, PADO is counting on the LG group's data center capabilities. In a job posting for brokerage specialists, PADO cited LG's cooling and power technologies and its global business network as competitive strengths in securing GPU suppliers. The plan is to generate revenue by brokering not only short-term rentals but also long-term supply contracts running one to five years. Another strength is its ability to optimize data center operations for power and cooling conditions using its own AI technology. In April, LG Electronics showcased PADO's AI operating platform together with its own cooling solutions in the United States.
LG Electronics is also expanding its AI data center business quickly. On the 6th of this month, it signed a long-term contract with U.S.-based Air Control Concepts to supply cooling solutions for data centers totaling 5 gigawatts. Related orders topped 600 billion won in the first half of this year. The company is also investing 150 billion won to expand production capacity, including a new chiller plant in Virginia, and is pursuing joint development of immersion cooling technology with GS E&C (006360) and U.S.-based GRC.
LG Energy Solution (373220) last month won Nvidia "DSX Ready" certification for its energy storage systems for data centers. LG Electronics' 2.5-megawatt coolant distribution unit received the same certification. LG CNS unveiled a modular data center combining GPUs, servers and power and cooling equipment, and added GPU rental services to its business lineup.
PADO's brokerage business could serve as a gateway for winning customers that ties these affiliate capabilities together. Securing contact with companies that need GPUs would increase opportunities to pitch LG Electronics' cooling equipment, LG Energy Solution's ESS and LG CNS' data center construction and operation services as a package. Performance is expected to hinge on whether the group can secure a stable supply of GPUs and win joint orders for actual projects.
"LG's entry into the GPU trading market means more than earning brokerage fees," an industry official said. "It can offer customers that need GPUs — the core of the AI era — a package that extends to cooling, power and data center construction, which should set it apart from existing brokers."