SEOUL, June 5 (Reuters) – Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said on Friday that robotics will be South Korea’s next big sector as he arrived for his second visit in seven months, highlighting deepening ties with local companies not just in chips but also in robotics and AI factories.
South Korea is an Asian industrial powerhouse home to major manufacturers of chips, electronics, automobiles and ships. After landing at Gimpo International Airport on a flight from Taiwan, Huang told reporters that chipmaking will be increasingly driven by artificial intelligence and robotics.
“As Korea is a manufacturing center of the world, we can apply the robotics technology and physical AI technology that we invented here to the industry,” he said. “So we have a great opportunity to partner with the semiconductor companies here as well.”
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Huang said he had meetings scheduled with Hyundai Motor, LG, SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and Naver during his trip.
‘Did I bring any gifts to Korea? It brought a lot of business to Korea,’ he said. ‘I have some surprises.’
KOREAN BBQ
On his first stop, the Nvidia boss visited an internet cafe in Seoul and met with esports players, including gaming star Lee Sang-hyeok, known as ‘Faker’. His daughter Madison Huang accompanied him during the visit, wearing a uniform from the renowned T1 e-sports team.
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Huang then ate Korean barbecue and drinks in the evening at a restaurant in Seoul with LG Group chairman Koo Kwang-mo, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and Naver founder Lee Hae-jin.
“We are all growing,” Huang told the dinner crowd, referring to its partners such as Samsung, SK Hynix, Naver and Hyundai Motor. “My friends here have had a really good year, but this is just the beginning,” he said, adding that Nvidia’s new products would use lots of memory chips.
Huang said Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron were qualified to supply HBM4 chips for its Vera Rubin AI platform. ‘All three suppliers are in production and are racing to support Vera Rubin.’
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together make about 70% of the memory chips needed for artificial intelligence chips like the ones Nvidia makes.
He also said that Nvidia had started hiring for its research and development center in Seoul.
