Jensen Huang to Throw First Pitch for Doosan Bears: Why He Chose Doosan Group

Ceremonial First Pitch and Swing with Park Jeongwon and Jensen Huang
Uniform Numbers 93 and 96 Symbolize Each Company’s Founding Year
A Milestone in Formalizing the Physical AI Technology Alliance

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang will take the mound at Seoul's Jamsil Baseball Stadium on June 7. Serving as the ceremonial first pitcher for a Doosan Bears home game, his visit to Korea is seen as more than just a sports event—it is widely interpreted as a symbolic gesture that highlights the close strategic partnership between the two companies.

AI-generated image

With NVIDIA and Doosan Group pursuing extensive collaboration in the field of physical artificial intelligence (AI), industry observers note that CEO Huang’s decision to personally visit Korea and stand alongside Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeongwon at the stadium underscores the strategic value NVIDIA sees in Doosan’s business portfolio.

Although CEO Huang has participated in ceremonial first pitches at professional baseball games in both the United States and Taiwan on multiple occasions, this will be his first time on the mound at a Korean stadium.

According to the industry on June 5, the key reason behind NVIDIA’s strong focus on Doosan is that Doosan’s affiliates provide optimal conditions as real-world testbeds for physical AI.

The vast accumulation of manufacturing site data spanning robotics (Doosan Robotics), construction equipment (Doosan Bobcat), and power generation equipment (Doosan Enerbility) is seen as a particular strength. For NVIDIA’s physical AI technology to be applied in real industrial environments, well-refined field data is essential—an area where Doosan is considered one of the few manufacturing groups that fully meet these requirements.

The core plan for both companies is to train NVIDIA’s advanced physical AI technology using Doosan’s extensive industrial data, thereby building tailored AI models for each affiliate. The goal is to go beyond simple software services and develop specialized AI that can be directly deployed in the field.

Specifically, by linking the data accumulated by Doosan Robotics with NVIDIA’s autonomous unmanned mobile robot solutions, an intelligent robotics ecosystem can be created. Through Doosan Bobcat, the application of AI-based autonomous driving and task automation technologies to excavators and other construction or compact equipment is under consideration. With Doosan Enerbility, discussions are underway about maximizing the operational efficiency of large-scale power generation facilities—such as gas turbines and nuclear power plants—using digital twin technology.

The value of Doosan as an AI partner has been further elevated by its expansion into the semiconductor value chain. In 2022, Doosan acquired Doosan Tesna, the top company in post-processing semiconductor testing, for KRW 460 billion, and is currently in the process of acquiring SK Siltron, the world's third-largest silicon wafer manufacturer, for approximately KRW 5 trillion. Although the acquisition process has slowed, if successful as expected, Doosan will achieve vertical integration from front-end semiconductor materials to back-end testing. This will establish a structure that allows data generated across semiconductor materials and testing processes to be utilized for AI training, highlighting Doosan’s unique position as a group that possesses both manufacturing site data and semiconductor process data.

In January at CES 2026, Doosan Group showcased the 'AI Depalletizing Solution' applying NVIDIA's virtual simulation technology Isaac Sim and the robot motion optimization solution cuMotion.

The relationship between the two companies began in earnest last year. In September 2025, Doosan Group Vice Chairman Park Ji-won led a C-level executive team to visit NVIDIA headquarters, where they discussed collaboration on agentic AI and physical AI. At that time, the integration of Doosan Robotics’ proprietary robot operating system (OS) under development with NVIDIA’s AI and robotics simulation infrastructure was a key agenda item.

In April this year, an executive responsible for robotics at NVIDIA visited the Doosan Robotics Innovation Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, accelerating practical cooperation.

Industry experts believe that CEO Huang’s current visit to Korea will serve as a de facto formalization of the technological alliance between the two companies. They analyze that the combination of NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure and Doosan’s robust manufacturing infrastructure could generate powerful synergies for each affiliate.

CEO Huang will wear a Doosan Bears jersey with number 93, representing NVIDIA’s founding year of 1993, as he takes the mound. In response, the team owner, Chairman Park, will wear number 96, signifying Doosan’s founding year of 1896, as he steps up for the ceremonial first bat.

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