South Korean President Lee Meets with Big Tech CEOs to Discuss AI Investments

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, and Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom, in San Francisco on July 24, local time, to discuss expanding investments and collaborations for building Korea's artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem and the "Three Major Megaprojects" for national advancement.

During the meeting, Huang announced that the business partnership between NVIDIA and SK Group could reach $500 billion. He also outlined extensive plans for collaboration with Korean companies, including semiconductor partnerships with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, significant investments in Naver, and cooperation with Hyundai Motor Group on autonomous driving and robotics.

President Lee began his meetings at a hotel in San Francisco with Altman, followed by Huang and Tan, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Lee Bae-keun and Kim Yong-beom, head of the Presidential Policy Office.

Lee welcomed Altman, recalling their previous encounter in Évian, France, and expressed gratitude for his interest in Korea's industrial transformation centered on AI. He noted, "Thanks to you, I am also using ChatGPT diligently."

Altman responded, saying, "I sincerely thank the Korean people and government. Given the efforts shown by the Korean government in the AI sector, Korea is one of the most important countries in the world." He added, "I hope other leaders will follow the leadership and investment shown by the President. It is crucial for many people to have access to high-quality AI, and Korea is taking a leading role in creating AI programs, including the Three Major Megaprojects."

President Lee emphasized that the Three Major Megaprojects represent a significant national decision and requested Altman to play a more active role in this process.

In his meeting with Huang, detailed investment and collaboration plans were revealed. Huang stated, "SK Group and NVIDIA will announce a business partnership, which will amount to $500 billion." He explained that NVIDIA, SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics are working on partnerships related to chip design and memory design, and that a large-scale investment in Naver, a leading cloud company in Korea, is planned to support expansion in Korea and globally.

Huang also mentioned collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group on developing autonomous Genesis vehicles and robotics, as well as plans to jointly develop systems for factories and homes with LG.

He introduced plans for research and development investments in Korea, stating, "We will start an AI Frontier Lab in Korea, where NVIDIA's leading AI researchers will move from California to Korea, collaborating with KAIST to build 'Korea AI.'" He also announced plans to develop a large-scale language model (LLM) tailored for Korea.

Huang emphasized, "We are building various partnerships with Korea's large corporations, startups, and research organizations, aligning with the President's vision of an 'AI Native Nation' that encompasses AI chip development, physical AI, and AI infrastructure."

He shared his recent experience visiting Seoul, saying, "The energy I felt in Korea, from fried chicken to pork belly, was truly amazing. The Korean people really love AI, and we achieved many results and remarkable announcements with various partners."

Huang remarked, "Under the President's leadership, Korea has accomplished a lot in the past year. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is truly Korea's golden age."

President Lee expressed gratitude for the smooth supply of GPUs promised by Huang during last year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. He noted, "Thanks to the smooth supply of GPUs, we are rapidly adapting even in unprepared situations. After a year of preparation since the government was established, we are launching the Three Major Megaprojects and preparing for a new society and nation centered on AI."

Lee stated, "Korea is determined to become the leading country in AI and its realization. While most people still think AI is confined to laboratories or programs, a time is coming when it will emerge and impact people's daily lives."

He added, "This is the beginning of the golden age of AI, and I hope NVIDIA and CEO Huang will play a more central role in Korea's entry into this golden age."

The two shared a friendly atmosphere, with Huang welcoming Lee to California, to which Lee responded, "You should have seen me in Seoul; the leather jacket suits you well."

Lee also mentioned, "I have seen many broadcasts of people enjoying chicken and beer in Seoul, and I wanted to join them."

In his meeting with Tan, President Lee stated, "Korea is making significant investments in AI and is preparing for a completely new level of collaboration with companies. I ask Broadcom to play a significant role in fostering Korea's AI ecosystem."

Lee emphasized, "Creating an AI industry ecosystem requires an enormous national role in terms of scale and content, and collaboration between companies is on a different level than in the past. I urge Broadcom to contribute to making Korea the world's leading AI nation."

Tan expressed through an interpreter his commitment to contributing to Korea's sovereign AI development with Broadcom's technology. He explained that they are collaborating with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to develop the latest high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and solutions that combine Broadcom's AI chips with HBM.

Tan noted, "It is impressive that even within Korea's large corporate-centered industrial structure, small and medium-sized enterprises and startups are striving to create new technologies. We will support Korea's sovereign AI implementation by providing customized semiconductors suitable for Korean AI models and LLM development, separate from general-purpose GPUs."

President Lee also met with Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, to discuss expanding investments and collaborations in the AI sector.

Earlier, President Lee met with Amodei as the first schedule of his series of meetings with big tech leaders, discussing various opinions on expanding investment partnerships for mutual growth between Korea and Anthropic and cooperation for responsible AI development.

According to a written briefing by Chief Spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung, President Lee stated, "Korea plans to significantly expand investments in AI, so we expect Anthropic's special interest and contributions."

He added, "Korea can be the optimal partner to become the core hub of Anthropic's AI infrastructure in Asia. If Anthropic's world-class AI model capabilities, confirmed by Mito, are combined with Korea's semiconductor and AI data center capabilities and the potential of a large-scale AI consumer market, it will create growth opportunities for both sides."

Lee urged, "Korea is optimized to be a core hub for AI in Asia, and I hope investment and collaboration with domestic companies will be significantly expanded."

In response, Amodei expressed, "Business cooperation with Korean companies is exciting and a very high priority. We plan to invest in many areas, including collaboration with memory manufacturers and AI data centers."

Amodei noted, "I believe Korea is very active at the national level. We have signed many MOUs (Memorandums of Understanding) with the Ministry of Science and ICT regarding AI cooperation, which will allow us to conduct tests in AI security and the cyber industry."

Chief Spokesperson Kang explained that the discussions included cooperation on domestic advanced memory semiconductor supply, large-scale joint investment in domestic AI data centers as a core hub for AI infrastructure in Asia, and collaboration for safe and responsible AI development and utilization.

President Lee concluded, "Our country is focusing on significant investments to achieve the world's top position in AI utilization in daily life, industry, and the public sector, with great potential due to various foundations such as talent and technology, as well as high public acceptance of technology. With the interest and support of advanced technology companies like Anthropic, we can create a new future together."