SEOUL, June 22 (AJP) - A full AI ecosystem from data centers to robotics is what a 30-member Team LG delegation is pitching at Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, California, led by Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of South Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate, who recently made headlines as the youngest of Korea's top chaebol chiefs to host an unusually casual samgyeopsal-and-soju dinner with Jensen Huang during the Nvidia chief's visit to Seoul earlier this month.
The large-scale dispatch comes just two weeks after Koo and Huang, accompanied by his eldest daughter Madison Huang, Nvidia's senior director of product marketing for robotics, held a strategic summit in Seoul on June 8.
Market observers say the rapid follow-up signals a swift transition from relationship-building to an actionable business roadmap, just days ahead of Koo's eighth anniversary at the helm on June 29.
LG, which has quietly slipped out of the business spotlight while much of the AI frenzy centered on memory chips and Hyundai Motor's humanoid robots, has been staging a comeback both in the stock market and corporate circles.
The task force includes senior executives driving LG's AI, mobility and component businesses, including LG CNS President Hyun Shin-gyun, LG Sciencepark President Jeong Soo-heon, LG Electronics Chief Technology Officer Kim Byoung-hoon and LG Innotek Chief Technology Officer Moon Hyuk-soo.
The duration of the visit has not been disclosed, underscoring the strategic weight the conglomerate has placed on its Nvidia partnership.
At the heart of the agenda is LG's "One LG" strategy, which seeks to combine the group's manufacturing capabilities with Nvidia's AI platforms.
The working group will evaluate the commercial viability of integrating Nvidia's humanoid robot development platform, Project GR00T, into LG's hardware ecosystem.
The proposed physical AI alliance would combine LG Electronics' robotics technologies, LG Innotek's precision components, LG Energy Solution's batteries and LG CNS's software capabilities.
If Samsung's AI ambitions are centered on semiconductors and SK Group's on high-bandwidth memory, LG's competitive edge lies in what engineers often describe as the less glamorous but indispensable layers of AI infrastructure, where the devil is in the details.
LG has been aggressively expanding its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning business, specifically targeting AI data centers with advanced thermal management solutions such as coolant distribution units and cold plates — critical components for high-performance server racks, chip clusters and next-generation AI facilities.
The strategic pivot toward high-value B2B and AI infrastructure businesses is supported by strong financial momentum.
According to FnGuide, LG's three electronics affiliates — LG Electronics, LG Display and LG Innotek — are projected to post a record combined annual revenue of 119.08 trillion won ($85.5 billion) this year, with operating profit exceeding 5 trillion won.
In the first quarter, the three affiliates generated a combined operating profit of 1.82 trillion won, a 4.5-fold increase from three years ago.
LG Electronics' Vehicle Solutions business and LG Innotek's FC-BGA semiconductor substrate operations posted record performances, providing both the financial muscle and technical leverage needed to deepen partnerships with global technology giants.
An LG Group official said the delegation is a direct follow-up to Koo's recent meeting with Huang and is aimed at materializing specific areas of cooperation.
"The delegation, which includes key figures such as the CEO of LG CNS and the CTOs of LG Electronics and LG Innotek, is focusing on solidifying partnerships in three representative areas: physical AI, AI data centers and mobility," the official said.
Analysts say LG's extensive hardware supply chain and rapidly growing B2B profitability are helping reposition the traditional home appliance giant as an indispensable infrastructure partner in the Nvidia-led AI era.
For Koo, whose leadership style has long been described as understated and methodical, the symbolic samgyeopsal dinner may prove more consequential than it appeared.
What began over grilled pork belly and soju is quickly evolving into a blueprint to transform LG from a consumer electronics powerhouse into one of the foundational builders of the physical AI era.
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