Business - The Korea Times

AI, chip partnerships shape APEC 2025 outcomes

At this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the headlines went beyond familiar stories of trade disputes and diplomatic maneuvering, also highlighting bold new alliances in future technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. As leaders from the United States, China and other APEC member economies convened in Korea to address trade and security issues, the APEC CEO Summit — held from Oct. 29 to 31 — brought together more than 1,700 top executives and officials from global companies and major Korean conglomerates, enabling global tech leaders to rally around industry initiatives and partnerships to drive future technological innovation. Discussions for the sessions spanned finance, energy and culture, with a marked emphasis on the transformative potential of AI, semiconductors and cloud-based technologies. These sessions set the stage for landmark partnership announcements at the summit. The most anticipated announcements came from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who unveiled a series of partnership agreeme

Nov 2, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

AI, chip partnerships shape APEC 2025 outcomes

Nvidia CEO expresses 'tremendous confidence' in Korea's semiconductor manufacturing field

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province —Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has reaffirmed his faith in Korea’s technological landscape, announcing a series of collaborations with the country’s leading companies – Samsung, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group and Naver – and its government, including the supply of a total of 260,000 Nvidia Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) to Korea. “I have tremendous confidence in Korea’s semiconductor manufacturing and design capabilities,” the CEO said during a media event following his speech for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Gyeongju, Friday. “We are very happy to partner with Korean companies on high-bandwidth memory (HBM)3e and HBM4. I am 100 percent confident that Samsung and SK hynix will be long-term partners of ours to create HBM4, HBM5 and HBM97 … As you know, Korea is world-class in memory technology; the world's best country at making memory technology of every kind.” The company has unveiled major plans to supply 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) to Samsung Electronics, SK and H

Oct 31, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

Nvidia CEO expresses 'tremendous confidence' in Korea's semiconductor manufacturing field

Jensen Huang praises Korean fried chicken at high-profile Seoul dinner with Samsung, Hyundai leaders

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang created a buzz in Korea, enjoying a casual evening with Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun over Korean fried chicken, one of the country’s most beloved snacks, and rounds of “somaek,” a popular soju and beer mix, on Thursday. A central figure in the global artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, Huang is visiting Korea for the first time in 15 years to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit and other high-profile business events. Huang, Lee and Chung dined at Kkanbu Chicken, a franchise, in a casual dining district near Samseong Station in southern Seoul, sharing fried chicken, beer and somaek, and even performed a Korean-style “love shot” toast. The trio also sampled Korea’s craft Jeju Ale before mixing Terra beer with Chamisul soju. Huang praised Korean fried chicken at an event later that evening in COEX, saying, "I told my friends that I wanted to eat Korean fried chicken. I don’t know why — it’s just the best in the world." He also mentioned his fav

Oct 31, 2025By Lee Kyung-min

Nvidia to supply 260,000 chips to Korea for AI factories with Samsung, SK, Hyundai

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — Nvidia has unveiled a landmark collaboration with Korea’s leading conglomerates — Samsung, SK Group and Hyundai Motor Group — to build artificial intelligence (AI) factories. The company announced it will supply a total of 260,000 Nvidia Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) across these three companies as well as Naver and the Korean government. President Lee Jae Myung said the large-scale partnerships mean Nvidia has started investing in Korea’s AI industry. “AI is also a new industry in itself because it needs manufacturing, factories, deep technical expertise, innovative and visionary entrepreneurs, as well as industrial factory capability. These are the perfect ingredients and capabilities for Korea to fly,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said during a meeting with the president and heads of Samsung, SK, Hyundai and Naver on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Friday. “Korea has deep technical capabilities, visionary entrepreneurs and, of course, no country i

Oct 31, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

Nvidia to supply 260,000 chips to Korea for AI factories with Samsung, SK, Hyundai

Google urges bold, responsible and cooperative approach to continue AI momentum

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — Google Asia-Pacific Chief Marketing Officer Simon Kahn urged global leaders to adopt a bold vision and a strong commitment to social responsibility in artificial intelligence (AI) development, ensuring that its rapid advancements translate into lasting, meaningful benefits for society. During a session on AI roadmap for sustainable innovation at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, on Thursday in Gyeongju, the CMO emphasized the importance of channeling the current wave of AI breakthroughs into long-term societal benefit. “In the AI era, we have a profound social responsibility to ensure that the benefits of this technology uplift everyone and drive sustained prosperity for generations to come,” Kahn said, also stressing collaborative action. “No single company or economy can realize the promise of AI alone. Progress depends on partnership … AI is global; our regulatory frameworks must be as well by building on common international standards,” he said. He demonstrated Google’s real-world AI applications that address

Oct 30, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

Google urges bold, responsible and cooperative approach to continue AI momentum

Samsung Electronics on track for recovery upon memory uptrend

Samsung Electronics said Thursday that its sales and operating profit for the third quarter stood at 86.1 trillion won ($60.45 billion) and 12.2 trillion won, respectively, marking the company's largest quarterly sales. The improvement was led by the solid recovery in its memory chip business amid the sharp growth in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators and server storage. Brisk sales of foldable and flagship smartphones also contributed to the overall recovery in its profitability. According to the company’s regulatory filing, third-quarter sales jumped 8.8 percent from 79.1 trillion won a year earlier, while operating profit surged 32.48 percent from 9.2 trillion won during the same period. Notably, its chipmaking Device Solutions (DS) division saw a sharp rebound. The division posted 33.1 trillion won in sales and 7 trillion won in operating profit, up 13 percent and 79.5 percent year-on-year, respectively. It was the DS division’s largest quarterly revenue, buoyed by expanded sales of AI-specific high-bandwidth memory (HBM) 3E chips and strong demand for Double Da

Oct 30, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo

Samsung Electronics on track for recovery upon memory uptrend

Tech giant leaders call for global cooperation to balance AI innovation

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — Leaders of global tech giants Amazon Web Service (AWS), Meta and Naver emphasized the importance of global cooperation to achieve a balance between rapid artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and responsible governance. During a session on the AI-driven economy at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, Meta Asia-Pacific Vice President Simon Milner underscored access to open-source AI and international cooperation as critical pathways for ensuring trustworthy and inclusive technology. “AI is evolving from generic tools to a super-smart system to learn from you, adapt to your goals and tasks, and help solve your unique problems,” he said. “Meta is actively engaged in that global conversation about AI, its competitiveness, regulation and the safeguards needed for responsible development,” he said. He shared that the company has collaborated with the nonprofit organization Linux Foundation to explore how open and collaborative approaches to AI can accelerate growth in the APEC region and ensure the benefits of advancement ar

Oct 29, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

Tech giant leaders call for global cooperation to balance AI innovation

AWS, global firms to invest $9 bil. in Korea to bolster AI, high-tech industries

GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province — Amazon Web Services (AWS) and six other global companies unveiled plans to invest a combined $9 billion in Korea over the next five years to strengthen the country’s role as a global hub for artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced industries, the presidential office said Wednesday. The announcement came after President Lee Jae Myung met with AWS CEO Matt Garman and executives from the multinational firms in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, securing multibillion-dollar commitments in key strategic sectors, including AI, semiconductors, secondary batteries, future mobility and biotechnology. The executives are visiting Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit. Among their pledges, AWS will invest more than $5 billion by 2031 to establish new AI data centers in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, following its $4 billion investment in June to build an AI data center in Ulsan — the largest greenfield investment in Korea’s history. The tech giant’s latest move underscores its confidence in Korea’s strong growth

Oct 29, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

AWS, global firms to invest $9 bil. in Korea to bolster AI, high-tech industries

Korea, US to sign deal to expand ties in science

Korea's science ministry said Wednesday it will sign an agreement with the United States to broaden cooperation in the science sector on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering under way in the southeastern city of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. The Technology Prosperity Deal, to be signed by Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon and Michael Kratsios, head of Washington's Office of Science and Technology Policy, later in the day, centers on expanding "omnidirectional" cooperation in science, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. The ministry said the agreement comes amid the growing importance of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), quantum and synthetic biology. "Through this cooperation, we aim to jointly seek prosperity for future generations, enhance the quality of life for people in both countries, and further elevate the alliance between Korea and the U.S.," it said. In detail, the two countries agreed to speed up efforts to utilize and innovate AI technology for the development of various industries. Seoul and Washin

Oct 29, 2025By Yonhap

Korea, US to sign deal to expand ties in science

SK hynix's memory chips sold out through next year upon strong demand

SK hynix set a new quarterly earnings record for the third quarter, powered by strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip sales and higher memory prices. The chipmaker said that not only AI-specific high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips but also other DRAM chips and NAND flash memory chips are “virtually sold out” through next year, as new AI-driven markets such as autonomous driving and robotics continue to emerge. Describing the current boom as a “super cycle,” the company added that the limited room for production expansion will likely prolong the uptrend. SK hynix said Wednesday during its earnings call that its operating profit stood at 11.38 trillion won ($7.93 billion) for the July-September period and its sales reached 24.45 trillion won. Sales jumped 39 percent from 17.57 trillion won a year earlier, while operating profit surged 62 percent from 7.03 trillion won. Operating margin soared to 47 percent. This marks a new quarterly earnings record for the chipmaker, driven by rising prices of DRAM and NAND flash memory and increased shipments of high-performance products for AI se

Oct 29, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo

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