Nvidia CEO visits South Korea for first time in 8 months
"AI market will be much bigger in second half than first"
"Want to make sure our partners are fully prepared"
"Samsung, SK and Micron all certified for HBM4"
"Robotics will be Korea's next key sector"
"Great opportunity to work with chipmakers on robotics"
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang arrived in South Korea on Friday afternoon, touching down at the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center in Gangseo-gu at 1:38 p.m. to kick off his official visit.
Greeting reporters in Korean with "annyeonghaseyo" as he entered the country, Huang outlined the purpose of his trip and his key plans.
"The AI market will be much bigger in the second half than the first half, and next year it will be very large," he said. "I want to align with our partners and make sure we are fully prepared."
Huang said he has a packed schedule of meetings lined up with Hyundai Motor, LG Group, SK Group, Samsung Electronics and Naver, among others. "I've brought a lot of business for Korea," he said. "There will be some surprise announcements."
Huang said he plans to discuss supply chain coordination with partner companies, signaling that memory chip supply cooperation with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will be a central focus amid an ongoing memory shortage.
"We are building out massive AI infrastructure, and our next-generation superchip 'Vera Rubin' has entered full production, so things are going to get very busy," he said.
He added that Nvidia would consume large amounts of high-speed data and would need to use memory wisely given supply constraints. "We will support as much supply as possible and continue working with our partners here to use that supply as smartly as we can," he said.
On Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron — the three suppliers of sixth-generation HBM4 for Nvidia's next-generation GPU "Rubin" — Huang said "all three are qualified and in production," adding that "all of them are sprinting to supply us."
Huang also said "robotics will be Korea's next key sector" and outlined plans to collaborate with South Korean manufacturers.
"Korea is the manufacturing hub of the world. We can apply our robotics technology and physical AI technology here," he said. "Semiconductor manufacturing will become increasingly roboticized. We have a great opportunity to work with the chipmakers here as well."
He praised South Korea's strengths, saying the country excels in manufacturing, mechatronics and AI technology and has a very large domestic industrial base capable of supporting the robotics industry and robotics development.
Huang also mentioned that Nvidia has begun hiring R&D staff in South Korea. "Korea is a great place to invest in an R&D center," he said. "We will continue to hire people."
The visit is Huang's first trip to South Korea in about eight months, following his attendance at the APEC CEO Summit held in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, last October.
That visit lasted only one night and two days, but this time Huang is expected to stay for three nights and four days.
His first stop is T1 Base Camp, a PC bang in Hongdae, Mapo-gu, operated by esports organization T1, where he is set to meet professional gamer Lee Sang-hyeok, known by his handle "Faker."
At the meeting, Huang is expected to discuss the esports industry with Faker — one of the most iconic figures in Korean esports — and experience South Korea's PC bang culture firsthand.
Huang is well known for having walked the aisles of Seoul's Yongsan Electronics Market in the mid-1990s, before Nvidia became a global giant, to personally sell the company's graphics cards.
At an event in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, last October marking the 25th anniversary of Nvidia's GeForce GPU line, Huang said, "Without PC bangs and esports, today's Nvidia would not exist" — underscoring his longstanding affection for South Korea's PC bang culture.
Later in the evening, Huang plans to join SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin for a samgyeopsal and soju dinner at a nearby restaurant called "Hyeongnim Jeoyo."
Huang also told reporters upon arrival that his favorite Korean foods include fried chicken, Korean barbecue and samgyetang.
joze@heraldcorp.com
jeongwan@heraldcorp.com
