Korean AI Companies Meet AMD for "Open Ecosystem Cooperation"... Lisa Su Says "Collaboration Possible"

South Korean artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor companies met with Lisa Su, Chair and CEO of AMD, to discuss various collaboration opportunities, including the creation of an open AI ecosystem.

Lee Dokyu, Policy Chief of the Ministry of Science and ICT, told reporters after a roundtable held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul, with CEO Su and South Korean AI semiconductor firms on the morning of October 7, "There was a consensus that innovation in the AI ecosystem is achieved not through monopolies but through openness."

Lisa Su, Chair and CEO of AMD, attended the 'AI Semiconductor Companies Roundtable' held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 7th, greeting representatives of domestic AI companies. 2026.10.7. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Attendees at the roundtable included the heads of domestic AI semiconductor companies developing neural processing units (NPUs), such as FuriosaAI, HyperAccel, DeepX, and Mobilint. Other companies specializing in AI infrastructure, networks, and models—including MangoBoost, Panacea, Dinotisia, Moreh, Nota AI, Rablup, Pado, ELICE Group, and Upstage—also participated.

According to the policy chief, the domestic NPU companies at the roundtable proposed open ecosystem collaboration to AMD. They emphasized that as AI inference needs diversify, various types of chips are required. In response, CEO Su stated that it is AMD’s philosophy to allow users to easily select their preferred hardware—including graphics processing units (GPUs)—and that there is openness to potential collaboration.

The potential for AMD to participate in the sovereign AI infrastructure being promoted by the Korean government was also discussed. Kim Jooyoung, CEO of HyperAccel, proposed joint efforts to build the “sovereign AI infrastructure” through an open ecosystem with AMD, with domestic accelerator, network, and software companies coming together to address Korea’s shortage of CPUs and training GPUs. CEO Su agreed with the proposal and said that AMD would work together to make it a reality.

Shin Jeongkyu, CEO of Rablup, noted that with the spread of agent-type AI, the computational burden on CPUs as well as GPUs is increasing, and asked about plans for integrated optimization of CPUs and GPUs. In response, CEO Su replied that AMD would support its entire product portfolio, from data center GPUs to PC chips and CPUs.

Kim Sunghoon, CEO of Upstage, requested support for software engineers and the establishment of local joint research hubs. CEO Su said that within the next few years, AMD would establish an AI Center of Excellence (CoE) in Korea, where hundreds of engineers would participate. In response to a question about the physical AI strategy from Kim Nokwon, CEO of DeepX, Su replied, “The next three to five years will be a very important period in this field,” and added, “In cooperation with WorldLabs, which was recently acquired, we will provide reference designs that cover both hardware and solutions to make them easily accessible to customers.”

Policy Chief Lee explained that for the upcoming AI Center of Excellence to be established by AMD, "Working-level discussions are currently underway with the goal of establishing it within this year, and the operating committee will discuss specific details such as location next month." He added, "While previous AMD AI Centers of Excellence were established in response to strategic needs, such as investment, this is the first case where the center will be launched without such prerequisites."

Meanwhile, regarding whether AMD expressed willingness to supply the latest GPUs and other computing infrastructure to domestic companies with priority or on a large scale during the meeting, he said, "There was no mention regarding the specific volume of supply."

Ryu Jemyung, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and Lisa Su, Chair and CEO of AMD, are attending the 'AI Semiconductor Companies Roundtable' held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul on October 7, 2026. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

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