Nvidia expands AI ties with Hyundai, Samsung, SK, Naver

Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang is making his first trip to South Korea in fifteen years, aiming to enhance partnerships with key players in the tech industry such as Hyundai Motor, Samsung, SK, and Naver. This visit coincides with the APEC Summit 2025, where Nvidia and the South Korean government have announced an expanded collaboration to enhance the nation's AI infrastructure and capabilities. The partnership is particularly timely, following recent technology agreements between the U.S. and South Korea, which focus on advancing strategic cooperation in areas such as AI, semiconductors, and quantum computing. As part of this initiative, South Korea is set to acquire over 260,000 of Nvidia's latest GPUs to meet the increasing demands of AI technology. Approximately 50,000 of these GPUs will be dedicated to public projects aimed at creating domestic AI foundation models and establishing a national AI data center. The remaining GPUs will be allocated to major companies, including Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor Group, and Naver, to foster AI-driven innovations in manufacturing and the development of industry-specific AI models. Additionally, Samsung revealed plans to construct an AI Megafactory in collaboration with Nvidia, which will incorporate AI into every phase of its semiconductor and mobile device manufacturing processes. This facility will utilize over 50,000 Nvidia GPUs and the Omniverse platform to create an intelligent network that can analyze, predict, and optimize production in real time. With a partnership spanning over 25 years, Samsung and Nvidia are also working together on HBM4, a next-generation memory designed for future AI applications. Furthermore, Nvidia is collaborating with South Korea’s major telecom operators—SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus—along with the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) to develop AI-RAN, a system that enhances mobile base station performance while reducing battery consumption. In a significant move, Nvidia and Hyundai are joining forces to develop AI infrastructure focused on autonomous vehicles, smart factories, and robotics. They plan to utilize 50,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs for integrated AI model training and validation, as well as establish AI research centers in South Korea to bolster the nation's physical AI sector. Huang emphasized the transformative impact of AI across various industries, particularly in transportation, stating that their collaboration aims to create intelligent vehicles and factories. In addition, SK Group, the parent company of SK Hynix, is partnering with Nvidia to establish Asia's first enterprise-led manufacturing AI cloud, utilizing Nvidia's simulation and digital twin technologies to benefit the government, public institutions, and local startups. Naver Cloud is also working with Nvidia to create a next-generation “Physical AI” platform that integrates both physical and digital realms, targeting sectors like semiconductors and biotechnology to expedite AI adoption in real-world applications. These collaborations underscore a significant trend in the tech industry: the integration of AI with hardware capabilities. Nvidia's partnerships with leading South Korean companies reflect a concerted effort to shape the future of intelligent systems and transform various industries. This week, Nvidia also announced new collaborations with companies including Eli Lilly and Uber, following concerns about an AI bubble, leading to a surge in its stock price as it became the first publicly traded company to exceed a $5 trillion market value.