Nvidia’s Jensen Huang broadens South Korea outreach with TV and baseball appearances

SEOUL: Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is set to make a second trip to South Korea in seven months, combining meetings with senior technology executives with a public-facing schedule that includes a television appearance and a ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game.

The visit underlines South Korea’s central place in the artificial intelligence supply chain and its growing role in robotics and advanced manufacturing. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together account for about 70 per cent of the memory used in AI chips such as those made by Nvidia, while the country is also seen as well placed for what the industry describes as physical AI, where artificial intelligence is integrated into robots, cars and factories.

Jeff Kim, an analyst at Seoul-based KB Securities, said Nvidia’s reliance on South Korean suppliers was increasing. He wrote in a research note that Huang also needed a manufacturing base for physical AI, adding that South Korea was becoming an ideal testing ground. Seung-yub Lee, a fund manager at Seoul-based Quad Investment Management, said the country’s importance had grown further as trade tensions disrupted sales of the most advanced semiconductors to China. He said South Korean companies operate high-end factories that require large volumes of such chips.

South Korea is also a significant Nvidia customer. In October, the Silicon Valley company said it would provide more than 260,000 of its most advanced AI chips to the government and to some of the country’s biggest companies. President Lee Jae Myung has also pledged to make AI investment a major policy focus, with the stated goal of turning South Korea into one of the world’s top three AI powers as part of a broader effort to address the economic effects of a shrinking population.

Meetings and investment interest

Speaking to reporters at a dinner with South Korean technology executives in Taipei on Monday, on the opening day of the Computex trade show, Huang stressed the importance of the country to Nvidia.

"Korea is a critical part of our ecosystem,"

When asked where Nvidia could invest, Huang pointed to robotics, saying South Korea was a manufacturing country and also faced population limits. He added:

"We have a lot to do together,"

Huang was not forthcoming when asked by Reuters which South Korean business leaders he would meet during this visit. However, food is again expected to feature in his schedule. Local media have reported that he may attend a Korean barbecue dinner in Seoul’s Sungsu district with executives from SK Group, Hyundai Motor and LG Group. Reuters has also reported likely meetings with LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and executives from Naver, South Korea’s leading online platform.

Public appearances aimed at wider audience

Beyond corporate talks, Huang is due to appear on You Quiz on the Block, one of South Korea’s best-known television talk shows. Its production company, CJ ENM, has compared the programme to The Jimmy Fallon Show in the United States.

He is also scheduled to wear a Doosan Bears jersey and throw the ceremonial first pitch before Sunday’s home game against the Kiwoom Heroes. Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won is set to serve as the ceremonial first batter. Units of Doosan develop robots and produce materials used in Nvidia’s Blackwell chips.

Park Ju-gun, who heads the corporate analysis firm Leaders Index, said Huang appeared to have taken note of the attention generated during his October visit, when a chicken-and-beer meeting with the heads of Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor at a Kkanbu Chicken outlet drew heavy media coverage.