Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
$950 bil. chip partnerships reinforce Korea's place in global AI supply chain
President Lee Jae Myung shakes hands with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during a meeting with leaders of major Korean companies and global tech firms in San Francisco, Friday. From left are OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Huang, Lee, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
Lee unveils vision for Korea as global AI test bed, production platform
Korea's major semiconductor makers and other top tech companies have agreed on partnerships worth a total $950 billion with global Big Tech firms during President Lee Jae Myung's visit to San Francisco, highlighting Korea's expanding role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain.
The long-term agreements, announced alongside Lee's “San Francisco Declaration on AI” speech on Friday (local time), brought together leaders of Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group and Naver, together with representatives of Nvidia, OpenAI, Broadcom and Anthropic.
The partnerships were made as Seoul seeks to establish itself as an indispensable partner in AI semiconductor production and infrastructure amid an AI-driven semiconductor boom.
“Korea aims to become an irreplaceable pillar of the global AI supply chain,” the president said, presenting the country's vision for the future of AI and proposing a cooperative global framework.
“Building on our world-class competitiveness in memory chips and related production capacity, Korea will serve as a trusted manufacturing base for AI semiconductors and as a reliable supply chain partner,” he added.
The president also pointed to the country’s push to become “a global AI test bed and production platform,” moving beyond laboratories and digital spaces and adopting AI in the real world, including in manufacturing plants, in cities and at logistics centers.
He said that through the AI production platform built by Korea, AI will be developed and verified more quickly and deployed across industries. This will generate data that will enhance the performance and reliability of AI systems, which in turn will further improve industrial productivity and people's lives in a virtuous cycle.
“Through this virtuous cycle, the Republic of Korea will present a new global model for innovation, in which the utilization of AI keeps pace with its development … I invite all of you, global business leaders, to take an active part in this significant journey,” he said.
The president also stressed the need to narrow the gap between developed and developing nations in the use of AI. “I will make sure that Korea establishes cooperative networks with other countries to create new AI markets ... Korea will not seek its own growth only but will be a reliable partner that shares opportunities and benefits created by AI with the whole world.”
Officials of the Korean and foreign companies that joined Lee's San Francisco visit announced massive investment plans.
Samsung Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding with Broadcom to establish a strategic partnership worth $200 billion through 2030 covering memory chips, foundry manufacturing and advanced semiconductor packaging.
The largest commitment came from SK Group, which signed long-term agreements worth $750 billion to supply high-performance semiconductors to global tech companies, including Nvidia, over the next five years.
The package includes a partnership between SK hynix and Nvidia valued at more than $500 billion, covering high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for next-generation AI systems and cooperation on large-scale AI data centers. SK Telecom also plans to build a 2-gigawatt AI data center using Nvidia's Vera Rubin processors and SK hynix's HBM4 memory.
Naver announced plans to establish $10 billion worth of AI factories worldwide through a strategic investment agreement with Nvidia and an infrastructure partnership with Canadian asset manager Brookfield. The initiative is intended to expand Naver's AI infrastructure business by building gigawatt-scale AI computing facilities.
Hyundai Motor Group, meanwhile, presented its strategy to integrate AI into future mobility and manufacturing, expanding the use of robotics, autonomous production systems and AI-driven industrial applications as part of Korea's broader physical AI initiative.