Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, held a series of meetings with heads of major Korean companies even on the 7th, a holiday. He appears to be solidifying an all-around “alliance” system for Nvidia's core businesses, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and gaming.
According to the industry on the 7th, Huang met with the heads of Hyundai Motor Group, NCsoft, Krafton, Doosan Group, and SK Group on this day, showing a broad move for cooperation with Korea.
Huang had lunch with Euisun Chung, executive chair of Hyundai Motor Group, at a Pyongyang naengmyeon (cold noodle) restaurant in Euljiro, Seoul. It is known that they discussed cooperation plans in the field of “physical AI” in advance ahead of Huang's visit to Hyundai Motor Group scheduled for the 8th. Huang is expected to explore cooperation with Chung in the fields of AI robotics, autonomous driving, and software-defined vehicles (SDVs).
He also showed off his friendship with the gaming industry. Huang attended a PUBG influencer event held at a PC cafe near Sinnonhyeon Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of this day and met with Byung-gyu Chang, chairman of Krafton.
This meeting is interpreted as an extension of the next-generation technology cooperation being pursued by Nvidia and Krafton. The two companies have maintained close cooperation in the gaming AI field. Krafton applied the AI companion system “PUBG Ally” to “PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS” and showcased “Smart Joy” technology, where characters think and act on their own, in “inZOI.”
“Nvidia is a company that has grown with its roots in gaming for a long time,” Chang said. “Even today, he wanted to meet gamers at a PC cafe, and it was a place to talk together about a new starting point where games and AI meet.”
Huang immediately moved to the Portal PC cafe across the street and also met with Taek-jin Kim, CEO of NCsoft. At the scene, Huang showed intimacy toward Kim, calling him “my wingman today.”
“When 'Lineage 2' was released in Korea in the past, Nvidia played a big role in distributing GeForce (Nvidia's graphics card brand) to PC cafes nationwide,” Kim said. “Thanks to that, Lineage 2 was able to achieve great success, and the relationship that started then continues to this day.”
At 5 p.m., he stepped up as the ceremonial first pitcher in a game between the Doosan Bears and the Kiwoom Heroes held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Huang will take the mound wearing a Doosan Bears uniform with the number '93', which signifies 1993, the founding year of Nvidia. Jeongwon Park, chairman of Doosan Group, took on the role of the ceremonial batter.
At around 7 p.m., he met with Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, at Kkanbu Chicken Samseong branch in Gangnam, Seoul. Noh-jung Kwak, CEO of SK hynix, and Jae-heon Jeong, head of SK Telecom, also attended this meeting. It is expected that they coordinated the AI semiconductor supply chain and shared conversations on physical AI infrastructure, such as digital twins.
This is his second meeting following the “Samgyeopsal and Soju Meeting” with Kwang-mo Koo, chairman of LG Group, and Hae-jin Lee, global investment officer of NAVER, at a meat restaurant near Hongdae on the 5th.
