At AI Summit, South Korea Outlines Its AI Future With NVIDIA and Partners

At this week’s AI Summit in San Francisco, South Korean President Jae Myung Lee, accompanied by a delegation of the nation’s most influential business leaders and academic researchers, convened with NVIDIA and its ecosystem partners to solidify a roadmap for Korea’s artificial intelligence trajectory. Building upon the momentum generated by NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to Seoul last month, the summit served as a stage for major announcements that underscore South Korea’s ambition to evolve into a global epicenter for AI innovation.

The summit highlights a comprehensive, full-stack strategy designed to bolster Korea’s AI infrastructure and technical expertise. Central to these efforts is a new partnership between NVIDIA and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), which today announced the establishment of a joint AI research laboratory at the KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI in Seoul. This facility marks a historic milestone as the first collaborative AI lab between a Korean university and a global technology giant, aiming to accelerate the development of agentic AI specifically tailored for the Korean landscape.

A National Commitment to AI Infrastructure

The collaboration between NVIDIA and its Korean partners—including industry titans like NAVER, SK Telecom, and Hyundai Motor Group, alongside academic powerhouses KAIST and Seoul National University (SNU)—is focused on the development of national AI factories and physical AI platforms.

Key developments announced during the summit include:

• NAVER’s Massive Expansion: In a significant scaling of previous commitments, NAVER, Brookfield, and NVIDIA are expanding the NVIDIA DSX AI factory at the GAK Sejong data center. The facility will now reach a capacity of 200 megawatts, utilizing approximately 100,000 GPUs based on the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform—a more than threefold increase from the initial June announcement.
• SK Group’s $500B+ Partnership: SK Group and NVIDIA have unveiled a comprehensive partnership exceeding $500 billion to address the global surge in compute demand. This expanded collaboration will integrate NVIDIA Vera Rubin infrastructure with SK hynix’s cutting-edge HBM4 memory technology.
• Hyundai’s Physical AI Strategy: Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) is doubling down on physical AI, anchored by a robot reference platform co-developed with NVIDIA. This initiative includes a deployment of 50,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and the integration of the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion platform—which combines DRIVE AGX in-vehicle computing with the safety-certified DriveOS—into HMG’s vehicle lineups.

Deepening Academic Ties

Beyond industrial infrastructure, NVIDIA is cementing its commitment to Korean talent development. The company is working with the KAIST Department of Mechanical Engineering to launch an NVIDIA AI Technology Center (NVAITC). This center will focus on collaborative research, knowledge exchange, and the application of NVIDIA Nemotron open models in the field of physical AI.

Similarly, NVIDIA and Seoul National University are planning an NVAITC to foster research in foundation models, accelerated computing, and AI for science. This initiative will leverage both NVIDIA Nemotron and the NVIDIA Cosmos open world foundation models, ensuring that Korean researchers have access to the most advanced tools available to drive local industry innovation.

A Visionary Dialogue: Huang and President Lee

Ahead of the summit, President Lee and Jensen Huang met at the Fairmont San Francisco to discuss the strategic alignment of Korea’s national AI ambitions. The atmosphere was one of mutual respect and shared vision. President Lee expressed his admiration for the rapid progress of the partnership, while Huang reflected on the palpable enthusiasm for AI he witnessed during his recent travels across Korea.

"From AI chips and physical AI to AI infrastructure, Korea has achieved remarkable results under your leadership over the past year. This is truly the beginning of a golden age for Korea." — Jensen Huang, NVIDIA CEO

President Lee echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that South Korea is positioning itself as a pivotal hub in the global AI supply chain, spanning everything from semiconductor manufacturing to industrial integration. The two leaders agreed that this summit is merely the starting point for a long-term, transformative era for the nation.

The "San Francisco AI Declaration"

The summit reached a crescendo at the Midway in San Francisco, where President Lee delivered his "San Francisco AI Declaration." Drawing a historical parallel between the city’s post-1906 earthquake rebirth and Korea’s post-war rise to IT prominence, the President articulated a bold vision for the future.

The event featured a high-profile panel moderated by Stanford University’s Soh Kim, bringing together global compute leaders including NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Broadcom’s Hock Tan, and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei. They were joined by the heads of Korea’s industrial vanguard: Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, and NAVER founder Hae-jin Lee.

President Lee described the emergence of AI as a discovery akin to "humanity discovering fire anew," pledging a multi-trillion-dollar investment into semiconductors, hyperscale data centers, and physical AI.

Industry Leaders Weigh In:

• Jensen Huang (NVIDIA): Acknowledged the foundational role of Korean memory, stating, "If not for the invention of HBM memory in Korea, NVIDIA wouldn’t have been able to invent the supercomputers that power AI today."
• Sam Altman (OpenAI): Emphasized the necessity of the partnership, noting that the current AI revolution would not be possible without Korea’s contributions.
• Dario Amodei (Anthropic): Highlighted that Korea’s influence is felt "throughout the stack," from infrastructure to an unparalleled concentration of technical talent.
• Chey Tae-won (SK Group): Provided a humorous look at the insatiable demand for compute, noting that every meeting with Huang results in requests for "more chips," a trend he expects to continue indefinitely.

Strengthening the Silicon Valley Connection

The summit was preceded by a series of high-level visits to NVIDIA’s Santa Clara headquarters. Samsung Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai’s Euisun Chung, and NAVER’s Hae-jin Lee toured the campus, reinforcing the personal and professional ties between the leaders of the AI revolution.

These meetings followed a warm, collaborative dinner in Woodside, California, where NVIDIA and SK Group leadership celebrated their longstanding partnership. With plans to co-develop memory for AI infrastructure and personal AI, the relationship between these companies has moved beyond simple supply chain logistics into a deep, integrated co-innovation model.

As the summit concludes, the message is clear: the AI era is not being built in isolation. By integrating Korea’s industrial prowess with the global compute leadership of companies like NVIDIA, the foundation is being laid for a future where Korea serves as a primary engine for the next generation of artificial intelligence.