South Korea announces $950 billion in AI deals with Samsung, SK and US tech firms

SAN FRANCISCO: South Korea has announced $950 billion in new artificial intelligence initiatives involving Samsung Electronics, SK Group and US technology companies, as major AI players move to secure faster chip supplies needed to build and run more advanced systems.

According to South Korea’s presidential Blue House, SK Group signed agreements worth $750 billion after an AI summit hosted by President Lee Jae Myung in San Francisco. Those arrangements include an SK Hynix partnership with Nvidia valued at more than $500 billion. Separately, Samsung Electronics said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Broadcom covering up to $200 billion in memory chips, foundry services and advanced packaging.

The announcements come as demand for chips and computing infrastructure continues to outpace supply, pushing US AI companies into closer ties with South Korea’s semiconductor and memory manufacturers.

Lee unveils AI cooperation plan

Addressing the summit, Lee said South Korea planned to help lead a new AI era in collaboration with global technology firms and would make its dynamic AI ecosystem available to help expand the international market for industrial and personal AI uses. He also presented a San Francisco AI Declaration setting out Seoul’s goals for technology cooperation with the United States.

Lee said he wanted to outline a future vision for artificial intelligence and call for international collaboration.

I'd like to present a vision for the future of AI and propose global cooperation to make it happen,

Before the summit, Lee separately met Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei and Broadcom chief executive Hock Tan. The event was also attended by Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and Naver founder Lee Hae-jin.

SK-Nvidia initiative and data centre plan

Nvidia and SK Group also announced a new AI initiative valued at $500 billion focused on large-scale AI data centres and next-generation memory. The plan includes a long-term partnership with SK Hynix to secure future memory supplies for Nvidia and jointly develop high-bandwidth memory for AI training, AI agents and physical AI applications.

Under the agreement, SK Telecom will build a 2-gigawatt data centre using Vera Rubin chips and SK Hynix’s HBM4 high-bandwidth memory chips. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in 2027.

Samsung said its work with Broadcom will include development of Broadcom’s next-generation AI accelerator based on Samsung’s HBM technology, along with sub-2-nanometre foundry processes and advanced packaging services.

Executives highlight surging memory demand

SK Chairman Chey Tae-won said AI customers were seeking much more memory than earlier expected, citing recent talks with Nvidia, Anthropic, OpenAI and Broadcom. He said Nvidia’s projected memory needs for the next five years could rise further.

I wouldn't be surprised if, the next time I see (Huang), he'll tell me those figures were too low and say, 'I want more,'

Chey also said Broadcom chief executive Hock Tan had told him the company’s memory needs were likely to exceed available supply. He added that Anthropic had been regularly checking future chip availability as it moved from developing AI models to building computing capacity.

Chey said OpenAI would need huge computing resources and had asked SK to supply chips directly to the ChatGPT maker. He also said Anthropic was building its own computing power, without giving details. An earlier Reuters report had said the AI company was exploring the possibility of designing its own chips.

An Anthropic spokesperson said the company was continually examining options and using a range of chips as part of a diversified computing strategy. Amodei did not comment on the reported chip-design plan, but said Anthropic had signed supply deals with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix without giving more details.

In May, Anthropic raised funding at a post-money valuation of $965 billion and identified Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron as partners whose technologies are important to the supply of memory, storage and logic chips.

Broader South Korean AI push

Lee is also due to attend a Silicon Valley meeting on Saturday between South Korea’s National Pension Service, described as the world’s third-largest pension fund, and US-based venture capital firms to encourage investment in South Korean start-ups.

The latest events underline Lee’s wider effort to draw in global capital and technology partners as part of an expansive state-backed AI drive. Last month, he announced three large state-backed projects centred on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to build semiconductor production clusters, physical AI ecosystems and AI data centres under an industrial strategy involving more than $576 billion in investment.