Jensen Huang to Meet South Korea’s Business Leaders in Seoul for AI Alliance Talks

HBM, physical AI and data centers on the agenda

Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang is returning to South Korea for the first time in seven months to meet the heads of the country’s biggest business groups. The dinner is set to bring together SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin, with talks expected to center on future technology partnerships in AI chips, physical AI and data centers.

Huang is due to arrive Friday afternoon on a chartered flight via the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center in Seoul’s Gangseo district, according to industry officials on June 5. His first official event in South Korea is set to be a dinner meeting in Seoul with the leaders of major Korean companies.

The gathering comes seven months after Huang’s high-profile Seoul meeting last year with Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Chung at a Kkanbu Chicken restaurant in the city’s Gangnam district. This time, the meal is being billed as a possible “samgyeopsal and soju meeting,” a reference to grilled pork belly and the Korean liquor.

A pork barbecue restaurant near Hongdae in Seoul’s Mapo district or in the Euljiro area of Jung district is emerging as the most likely venue. A restaurant in Seongsu-dong had initially been mentioned, but Hongdae gained traction after security and site conditions were taken into account. Given Huang’s ease with public appearances, industry officials also say he could stop by open-air dining spots or continue to a second venue later in the evening.

The talks are expected to cover HBM, AI data centers, autonomous driving, robotics and physical AI. SK Group, through SK Hynix, supplies high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, a key component in Nvidia’s GPUs. Huang recently visited the SK Hynix booth at Computex 2026, Asia’s largest IT trade show, and left his signature on an HBM wafer with the message, “Please make more.”

SK Group is also speeding up efforts to build an AI ecosystem that combines AI data centers with energy and telecommunications infrastructure. That leaves ample room for cooperation with Nvidia in next-generation AI chip supply and data-center expansion.

Hyundai Motor Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Nvidia last year after Huang met Chung to strengthen South Korea’s physical AI capabilities. The two sides agreed to invest $3 billion to establish an Nvidia AI Technology Center in South Korea and a Hyundai Motor Group Physical AI Application Center. Hyundai Motor Group is also working with Nvidia to advance Atlas, the humanoid robot developed by Boston Dynamics.

LG Electronics is developing its own physical AI model based on Nvidia’s general-purpose humanoid reasoning model, Isaac GR00T. It is also conducting intelligent robot demonstrations using Nvidia’s robotics development platform, while expanding AI infrastructure businesses such as cooling solutions for AI data centers and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.

Potential areas of cooperation with Nvidia also include LG AI Research’s Exaone model, LG Innotek’s robot sensing and semiconductor substrates, and LG Uplus’s cloud business. Naver, which is developing technologies including robotics, cloud services, digital twins and dedicated 5G networks, could also expand ties with Nvidia in AI infrastructure, robotics and data centers.

Huang will also attend a Doosan Bears home game this weekend at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won is set to deliver the ceremonial first hit, while Huang will throw the ceremonial first pitch.

Doosan Robotics is working to build a robot platform for industrial sites using Nvidia’s AI and robotics infrastructure, while Doosan’s Electronics Business Group supplies Nvidia with high-end copper clad laminate, or CCL, a key material used in AI accelerators. Doosan Enerbility is also seeking to win more gas-turbine orders as AI data-center expansion accelerates in the US.

Oh Se-seong, Hankyung.com reporter sesung@hankyung.com