Market AnalysisJun 09, 20262 Min
From Chips To Humanoid Robots: Nvidia Deepens South Korea Push As AI Race Accelerates
Nvidia's ambitions in artificial intelligence are expanding far beyond chips. As the AI boom accelerates, the chipmaker is strengthening its partnerships in South Korea.
During a recent visit to South Korea, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced a series of partnerships spanning advanced chips, AI data centres and even humanoid robots.
One of the most notable announcements was a new collaboration with tech conglomerate LG Group, where Nvidia plans to work on humanoid robotics as well as data centres. Speaking after a meeting with LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo in Seoul on Monday, Huang said the two companies are collaborating on motor technologies and mechanical systems.
"We are working with them in motor technology as well as mechanical systems so that we can bring together humanoid robotics and the future of robotics," he was quoted as saying by Reuters. The partnership also extends to data centre development. Huang said Nvidia and LG are jointly working in "architecting the future data centers."
The focus on robotics comes just days after Huang described robotics as South Korea's next major sector. On his arrival at the Gimpo International Airport on Friday (June 5), Huang said, "Because Korea is a manufacturing centre of the world, we can apply the robotics technology, the physical AI technology that we invent here for the industry. So we have a great opportunity to partner with the semiconductor companies here as well."
Besides LG, Nvidia also announced a string of deals with major South Korean firms, including SK Hynix, SK Telecom, Naver and Doosan Group.
A key pillar of Nvidia's strategy remains securing access to the memory chips required to power its AI ambitions.
Memory giant SK Hynix has entered into a multi-year technology partnership with Nvidia aimed at developing next-generation memory for AI data centres around the world. The partnership comes as memory chip makers face growing demand from the rapidly expanding AI sector.
Huang described SK Hynix as Nvidia's largest memory partner and indicated that it will "continue to be Nvidia's largest memory partner." "We already procure and we buy from SK Hynix already billions and billions of dollars each year, and it's going to grow substantially," Huang said, following a meeting with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.
The collaborations extend well beyond semiconductors. SK Telecom announced plans to build a gigawatt-scale AI cloud platform in South Korea using Nvidia technology, with its first AI data centre expected to become operational in 2027.
Additionally, Naver and Doosan are also set to deploy Nvidia technology to help build AI data centres. Doosan, which develops robots and manufactures materials used in Nvidia's Blackwell chips, said it expects its energy solutions to be integrated into Nvidia-powered data centres.
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