Nvidia is planning an education program in which its experts will directly teach robot development as part of Seoul National University's regular undergraduate curriculum. The move goes beyond a one-off supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips, extending to product-use training as a means of securing a future developer ecosystem. With major Korean technology companies already igniting an engineering boom by establishing employment-linked contract departments, Nvidia's entry is expected to further intensify competition to secure engineering talent.
According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 5th, Nvidia and Seoul National University are pursuing a plan to partially introduce Nvidia's "Deep Learning Institute (DLI)" curriculum into the "Creative Engineering Design" course offered by the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the second semester of this year. DLI is an Nvidia education program that teaches the basics of deep learning using graphics processing units (GPUs), how to use Nvidia's software development kits (SDKs), and applications for developing industry-specific robots. It consists of 41 educational modules in total and includes hands-on sessions using Nvidia chips and software directly.
Currently, the leading option under consideration is for Nvidia Korea to conduct the DLI training directly without charging a separate fee. With this, Seoul National University will receive Nvidia's latest edge (on-site deployment) AI computer module, the "Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit," as teaching material, along with free training on the basics of AI chip software and robot development.
What stands out in the Nvidia–Seoul National University education initiative is that Nvidia is participating in a freshman-level university course. Creative Engineering Design has been one of Seoul National University College of Engineering's flagship undergraduate courses since 1992. The course is distinctive in that first-year engineering students build robots themselves over the course of a semester. An annual on-campus competition is also held to measure the performance of the robots built in the class. Nvidia's intent is to pass on Nvidia product and software skills to Seoul National University engineering students through this kind of hands-on class.
Behind Seoul National University's robot talent development project lies Nvidia's underlying aim of creating loyal customers by instilling experience with Nvidia products early on. Nvidia has been investing in building its developer ecosystem since around the mid-2000s. A longstanding philosophy of Nvidia's business is that market dominance can only be secured when a lock-in effect is created not just through hardware quality, but also through the software user experience. Nvidia's rise to become the world's largest company by market capitalization amid the AI boom is also credited to the organic integration of its GPUs and its GPU programming software "CUDA," which drew countless developers into the Nvidia ecosystem.
Taken together, support for Seoul National University can also be seen as a strategy to preemptively draw robotics talent in Korea — a country with significant physical AI potential — into the Nvidia ecosystem. Yoo Eung-jun, CEO of Juneai Consulting and a former head of Nvidia Korea, said, "The business areas Nvidia has recently focused on in physical AI are humanoid robots, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), robotic arms, and autonomous driving." He added, "If Nvidia provides specialized training to a specific group such as mechanical engineering students, it appears to be an investment aimed at nurturing talent in three of those fields — excluding autonomous driving — while also securing them as future customers."
Among Korea's major conglomerates, a growing number are also eyeing ways to lock in engineering talent. While Nvidia's underlying goal is to secure future customers, Korean conglomerates have a clear purpose of cultivating promising candidates who will shoulder the future of their companies. The conglomerates are acquiring talent by setting up contract departments that guarantee employment after graduation.
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) was among the first to establish such contract departments. In 2006, Samsung Electronics created the Department of Semiconductor Systems Engineering with Sungkyunkwan University, which produces around 70 graduates annually. It has since broadened its semiconductor talent pipeline by partnering with seven universities, including Sungkyunkwan University, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), and Yonsei University. SK hynix (000660.KS) partnered with Korea University, Sogang University, and Hanyang University, and began recruiting freshmen for employment-linked semiconductor engineering departments in 2021. Recently, the trend is spreading beyond semiconductors to other industries. Samsung SDI (006400.KS) and Sungkyunkwan University newly established a battery department this year. LG Electronics (066570.KS) and Pusan National University plan to launch a smart home appliance engineering department next year.
Interest in conglomerate-run contract departments among college applicants has risen in parallel. According to Jongro Academy, the number of applicants to conglomerate contract departments at companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in the regular admissions for the 2026 academic year stood at 2,478. That marks a 38.7% increase from the previous year's 1,787. It stands in contrast to a 24.7% decline in applicants to medical and pharmaceutical departments over the same period.
Experts project that the move to secure customized engineering talent through partnerships between companies and universities will continue. Bae Sang-hoon, a professor in the Department of Education at Sungkyunkwan University, said, "From the companies' perspective, there is an advantage in training college students and obtaining human resources that match the company's desired talent profile." He added, "Ultimately, a company's competitiveness depends on how well it can secure science and technology talent."
