Jensen Huang Builds 'Team NVIDIA' in Korea... Only Korea Could Deliver HBM, Robotics, and Saemangeum AI Valley

Back-to-Back Meetings with Korean Business Leaders
Unveiling Hyundai Motor Group’s Saemangeum AI Valley Plan
Discussing Next-Generation HBM Collaboration with Samsung and SK
Forging an AI Alliance Spanning Manufacturing, Semiconductors, and Robotics

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, departed Korea on the morning of June 9 after completing his five-day visit. With no separate public events, the visit was purely for business purposes targeting domestic companies. During his stay, CEO Huang held back-to-back meetings with more than nine companies, including Samsung, Hyundai Motor Group, SK, LG, Naver, and Doosan.

The industry interprets CEO Huang's visit as an effort to build a 'Team NVIDIA' ecosystem with Korea as its hub. Observers note that, as a Taiwanese-American immigrant, CEO Huang is forming his own AI alliance in Korea using an approach different from the typical Silicon Valley model.

In reality, Korea is virtually the only country equipped with a comprehensive ecosystem spanning memory semiconductors, manufacturing, robotics, and platforms. China faces significant geopolitical risks due to U.S.-China tensions, while Taiwan, despite its exceptional semiconductor capabilities, has limitations in building an ecosystem that covers manufacturing and services as a whole.

Huang's busy schedule in Korea perfectly aligns with NVIDIA's strategy to expand beyond AI semiconductors into the era of physical AI. Following the generative AI boom, NVIDIA is now focusing on building an ecosystem where robotics and AI infrastructure will lead the next generation of the AI market. The core of this visit, according to industry insiders, is seen as the establishment of a 'Korean AI supply chain.'

The envisioned structure is for the United States to lead AI model development and supply of GPUs (graphics processing units), while Korea provides HBM (high bandwidth memory), manufacturing, robotics, and data center infrastructure.

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, is seen with a bright smile riding in KIA's electric vehicle PV-5 at Hyundai Motor Company's headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul on June 8, 2026. Photo by Hyundai Motor Company

In explaining the background of his visit, CEO Huang stated, "The era of robotics and physical AI has finally arrived," and emphasized, "There is no country better prepared for robotics than Korea." He highlighted Korea's large pool of AI researchers, manufacturing expertise, and its leadership in heavy industry and manufacturing.

Hyundai Motor Group stands out as a prime example. The group, with Boston Dynamics at the forefront, is advancing its capabilities in smart factories and robot manufacturing. The core of NVIDIA's push for physical AI is the hardware and manufacturing foundation that enables AI to operate in the real world. Industry observers believe CEO Huang explored potential collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group in the fields of humanoid robots and autonomous manufacturing.

The previous day, after a private one-hour meeting with Executive Chair Euisun Chung at Hyundai Motor Group’s Yangjae headquarters, CEO Huang announced plans to collaborate with the group to build an "AI Valley" in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province. The vision is to make it an AI hub encompassing research centers, data centers, and smart factories, akin to Silicon Valley in the United States. Hyundai Motor Group is now regarded as a core hardware partner in NVIDIA’s physical AI strategy.

In the semiconductor sector, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix serve as the two pillars. On the last day of his visit, CEO Huang met with Young-hyun Jun, President and Head of Device Solutions (DS) Division at Samsung Electronics, at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul to discuss supplying next-generation AI memory such as HBM4E and HBM5, as well as foundry collaboration. In his meeting with Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, he announced plans to expand the existing HBM supply partnership with SK hynix into a group-wide AI alliance. SK hynix will share its research and development roadmap with NVIDIA, while SK Telecom is set to build and operate an AI factory in Korea next year based on the NVIDIA platform.

Yonhap News Agency

Doosan Group, centering on Doosan Robotics, will jointly develop an agentic robot operating system based on the NVIDIA platform, while Doosan Bobcat will focus on developing intelligent equipment by integrating physical AI technology into construction and logistics machinery. LG Group also plans to expand cooperation across the entire AI infrastructure spectrum, including cooling solutions (LG Electronics), AI factories (LG Uplus and LG CNS), and power solutions (LG Energy Solution).

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