Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang continued his push to strengthen an "artificial intelligence (AI) alliance" through a relay of meetings with the heads of major Korean conglomerates on Wednesday. Huang met with SK Group Chairman Tae-won Choi and Naver board chairman Lee Hae-jin, agreeing to build a gigawatt (GW)-scale global AI factory. With Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung and LG Group Chairman Kwang-mo Koo, he found common ground on physical AI cooperation. Having emphasized a "semiconductor buddy alliance" during his visit to Korea last November, Huang appears this time to have broadened the scope of cooperation across the entire AI ecosystem.
Huang's four-day, three-night visit was the "Jensen Huang syndrome" itself. He ate samgyeopsal, chicken, and naengmyeon with company chairmen, threw the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball stadium, and even appeared on a variety show. At a lecture at Seoul National University, he wore a school jacket and stirred students' dreams, stressing that "believing in a market that does not exist is innovation."
Yet the fact that Huang, the head of the world's largest company by market capitalization, displayed a near-celebrity persona is not simply fan service but a thoroughly strategic move for his business. Just as Korean companies need to ride on the back of a giant to expand in the AI market, Nvidia must also be in dire need of a partner like Korea, which possesses world-class memory semiconductor and manufacturing capabilities. In that regard, what lies ahead matters more for us. Korean companies must no longer repeat a structure in which foreign firms dominate core platforms and software while we remain content to stay in subcontracting. Cooperation with Nvidia is necessary, but we must keep in mind that excessive dependence can result in technological subordination.
Behind the easygoing, ordinary-man image Huang showed during his visit lies a weighty question: who will dominate the AI ecosystem? Korean companies must not remain mere suppliers of Nvidia components but should create new standards for AI. To do so, they must make bolder investments in securing cutting-edge technology that puts them far ahead in the AI field. The government must swiftly remove obstacles blocking the development of the AI industry, such as data-use regulations, insufficient power infrastructure, and restrictions on siting and labor. The homework that Huang's visit has thrown at us is not light.
