The South Korean government will push to expand artificial intelligence (AI) cooperation between Nvidia and the domestic industry to small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and academia.
Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Monday at the "Korea AI Ecosystem Reception" hosted by Nvidia at the Shilla Hotel in Jung-gu, central Seoul. They discussed cooperation measures to enable Nvidia's computing infrastructure to be built more quickly in Korea and to help the domestic physical AI ecosystem grow.
In particular, the two sides agreed to join efforts to introduce AI factories based on Nvidia's next-generation AI supercomputer Vera Rubin and to invigorate physical AI cooperation between domestic industry, academia, and research institutions and Nvidia. The plan is for the government to provide support so that Nvidia, which holds a physical AI full stack, can forge multifaceted partnerships not only with large companies but also with small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, academia, and research circles in the process of commercializing it in Korea. The research and development (R&D) center that Nvidia has decided to establish in Korea is expected to serve as the hub for such cooperation.
Bae also called for the smooth delivery of the 260,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) previously promised. "If we cooperate strategically with Nvidia based on our world-class semiconductor and manufacturing capabilities and our potential in the AI field, we can create success stories across various industries, rather than simply exchanging components and infrastructure," he said. "I hope today's reception serves as a springboard for Korea's AI capabilities, including physical AI as the next-generation AI, to take another leap forward."
