President Lee Jae Myung speaks with attendees at a dinner for global AI leaders held at The Ramp restaurant in San Francisco on Friday (local time). From left: Euisun Chung, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group; Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics; President Lee Jae Myung; Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group; Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver's board of directors; Bae Kyung-hoon, deputy prime minister and minister of science and ICT; Hock Tan, president and CEO of Broadcom; Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; and Ranie Borkar, corporate vice president of Microsoft Azure Hardware. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung speaks with attendees at a dinner for global AI leaders held at The Ramp restaurant in San Francisco on Friday (local time). From left: Euisun Chung, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group; Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics; President Lee Jae Myung; Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group; Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver's board of directors; Bae Kyung-hoon, deputy prime minister and minister of science and ICT; Hock Tan, president and CEO of Broadcom; Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; and Ranie Borkar, corporate vice president of Microsoft Azure Hardware. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung, currently on a visit to the United States, sat down Friday (local time) with global AI leaders for a casual dinner at a local restaurant in San Francisco.

Cheong Wa Dae chief spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing that Lee visited "a local restaurant popular among AI researchers and residents in San Francisco" for the Saturday evening dinner.

The gathering was intended to mirror the informal spirit of the "chimaek" (fried chicken and beer) and "samgyeopsal" (grilled pork belly) meetups that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang enjoyed during his visits to Korea — this time with South Korea's president and business leaders sharing a casual California meal on American soil.

The menu featured fish and chips alongside other laid-back California fare, including fried calamari, crab cakes and clam chowder, washed down with light beer.

Saturday's dinner brought together Huang and other tech executives who had pledged investment and cooperation at the San Francisco AI Summit — Hock Tan, president and CEO of Broadcom, and Ranie Borkar, corporate vice president of Microsoft Azure Hardware — as well as Korean business leaders Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics; Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group; Euisun Chung, chairman of Hyundai Motor; and Lee Hae-jin, chairman of Naver's board of directors. The combined market capitalization of the attending companies, based on recent closing prices, stood at around 17,000 trillion won ($4,760 billion).

Kang said the dinner would allow Lee to "strengthen mutual bonds and reaffirm the commitment to AI cooperation through candid conversation with leaders of Korean and American AI companies driving the global AI revolution." She added that the gathering of global AI leaders around the president was intended to "imprint on the world South Korea's elevated standing as a key hub in the global AI supply chain, and to underscore the AI vision of an indispensable Korea."

President Lee Jae Myung raises a toast with attendees at a dinner for global AI leaders held at The Ramp restaurant in San Francisco on Friday (local time). From left: Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group; Kim Yong-beom, chief of the Policy Office; Ranie Borkar, corporate vice president of Microsoft Azure Hardware; Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; President Lee Jae Myung; Hock Tan, president and CEO of Broadcom; Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics; Euisun Chung, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung raises a toast with attendees at a dinner for global AI leaders held at The Ramp restaurant in San Francisco on Friday (local time). From left: Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group; Kim Yong-beom, chief of the Policy Office; Ranie Borkar, corporate vice president of Microsoft Azure Hardware; Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; President Lee Jae Myung; Hock Tan, president and CEO of Broadcom; Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics; Euisun Chung, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group. [Yonhap]

sang@heraldcorp.com