Nvidia to supply 260,000 cutting-edge chips to South Korea in major AI push led by President Lee Jae Myung

Nvidia said Friday it will supply 260,000 of its most advanced chips to South Korea, following a meeting between CEO Jensen Huang and Chairman Lee Jae Myung during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

This development comes amid a major Artificial Intelligence (AI) push by President Lee, who has expressed hope that the country can become a leading country in the field of artificial intelligence.

Speaking about the plan, US technology giant Nvidia said it was “working with South Korea to expand the country’s AI infrastructure with more than a quarter million Nvidia GPUs across its sovereign clouds and AI factories.” AFP reported.

Who will buy these chips?

South Korea is home to two of the world’s leading memory chip makers – Samsung Electronics and SK hynix – that supply the chips needed for artificial intelligence products and the data centers that power the rapidly developing industry.

Under the latest agreement, a total of 260,000 cutting-edge GPUs will be deployed across key sectors of South Korea’s technology and industrial landscape:

SAMSUNG: Under Friday’s agreement, Samsung Electronics will receive 50,000 chips for its new “Artificial Intelligence factory.” “With the use of more than 50,000 Nvidia GPUs, artificial intelligence will be embedded in Samsung’s entire production flow,” the Korean technology giant said.

SK Group and Hyundai Motor Group: Each of these companies will also be given 50,000 chips for use in their respective artificial intelligence facilities.

Also Read | Huang steps ahead of former Microsoft CEO after Nvidia’s $5 trillion milestone

NAVER Cloud: The company, which operates South Korea’s largest search engine, will receive 60,000 chips to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Government and cloud providers: Another 50,000 chips will be deployed at Seoul’s National AI Computing Center and other cloud service and IT providers to support the country’s AI development.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the importance of this agreement, saying, “Korea’s leadership in technology and manufacturing positions it at the heart of the AI industrial revolution, where accelerated computing infrastructure becomes as vital as power grids and broadband.” AFP reported.

Jensen Huang was spotted with Samsung and Hyundai presidents

Jensen Huang was spotted having dinner with Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y Lee and Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Euisun at Kkanbu Chicken, a local restaurant in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday evening.

Photos of the trio quickly went viral on social media, attracting the attention of fans, journalists and even national broadcasters, who broadcast live footage of the executives eating, drinking and chatting.

Also Read | Nvidia is poised to become the first $5 trillion company

During the trip, Huang gifted both Jay Y Lee and Chung Euisun with Nvidia-labeled DGX boxes, the company’s line of artificial intelligence systems. Lee then showed the cameras a note signed by Huang that read: “To our partnership and the future of the world!”

Key Takeaways

Nvidia will supply 260,000 advanced chips to South Korea to develop its artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Major technology companies in South Korea, including Samsung, Hyundai and NAVER Cloud, will benefit significantly from this supply by purchasing thousands of GPUs for AI operations.
This initiative highlights South Korea’s ambition to emerge as a leader in the global artificial intelligence market under the vision of President Lee Jae Myung.