Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is visiting South Korea for the first time in 15 years to unveil new projects and deepen collaboration with major Korean technology companies, including Hyundai Motor, Samsung, SK and Naver. At this week’s APEC 2025 Summit, Nvidia and the South Korean government announced an expanded partnership to strengthen the country’s AI infrastructure and physical AI capabilities.
The announcement comes just days after the United States signed technology agreements with Japan and South Korea, aimed at deepening strategic ties and strengthening collaboration on emerging technologies, including AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology and 6G.
South Korea will acquire more than 260,000 of Nvidia’s latest GPUs to meet growing demand for AI, the South Korean government announced Friday. Approximately 50,000 GPUs will support public initiatives, including the development of national AI core models and a national AI data center. The remaining more than 200,000 GPUs will go to companies such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor Group and Naver, which will drive AI-driven manufacturing innovation and the development of industry-specific AI models.
Nvidia and Samsung partner on AI Factory and AI-RAN for 6G
Samsung also announced plans to build an AI mega-factory in partnership with Nvidia, integrating AI into every step of its semiconductor, mobile device and robotics manufacturing. Using more than 50,000 Nvidia GPUs and the Omniverse platform, the facility will form an intelligent network capable of analyzing, predicting and optimizing production in real time.
Samsung and Nvidia, partners for more than 25 years, are now collaborating on HBM4, a next-generation memory designed to power future AI applications.
Nvidia will work with Samsung, three Korean telecom operators – SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus – and ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) to co-develop AI-RAN, according to the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT.
AI-RAN combines mobile base stations with AI to improve performance and reduce battery usage, and under a new agreement, Nvidia and South Korean industry and research institutes will jointly develop the next generation of AI-RAN and a global testbed, the Korean government said.
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In mid-October, Nvidia said Samsung Foundry would help manufacture custom CPUs and XPUs, following its work with Intel to connect x86 processors directly to Nvidia platforms via NVLink Fusion.
Hyundai pilots the mobility of the future with AI Factory
Meanwhile, Hyundai and Nvidia are joining forces to build AI infrastructure and advance physical AI technologies. The partnership plans to focus on autonomous mobility, smart factories and robotics, while collaborating on the supply and investment of high-performance GPUs.
According to Nvidia, the companies will use 50,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs for training, validation and deployment of integrated AI models, and establish AI research centers in South Korea to strengthen the country’s physical AI industry.
“AI is revolutionizing every facet of every industry, and in transportation alone – from vehicle design and manufacturing to robotics and autonomous driving – Nvidia’s computing and AI platforms are transforming the way the world moves,” Huang said. “Together with Hyundai Motor Group – Korea’s industrial powerhouse and one of the world’s leading providers of mobility solutions – we are building smart cars and factories that will shape the future of the multi-billion dollar mobility industry. »
SK builds AI cloud; Naver partners on physical AI
SK Group, parent company of SK Hynix, is partnering with Nvidia to create Asia’s first enterprise-led manufacturing AI cloud, leveraging Nvidia’s simulation and digital twin platforms and opening access to government, public institutions and domestic startups.
Naver Cloud, the cloud arm of Korean search engine Naver, is collaborating with Nvidia to develop a next-generation “physical AI” platform that connects the physical and digital worlds. The cloud company intends to deploy AI infrastructure in key industries, including semiconductor, shipbuilding, energy and biotechnology, with the aim of accelerating the adoption of AI solutions optimized for real-world industrial environments, according to Naver.
“As the automotive industry transitions to SDVs, the era of “physical AI,” where AI operates directly within real industrial sites and systems, is unfolding,” said Hae-jin Lee, founder of Naver, in the Naver release.
Nvidia’s collaborations with Korean Big Tech giants – from Samsung’s AI network initiatives to Hyundai’s software-defined vehicles, SK Group’s industrial AI applications and Naver’s cloud and AI services – highlight a broader trend of the merging of AI and hardware across industries. These partnerships show how global technology leaders are joining forces to shape the next generation of intelligent systems.
Earlier this week, the US tech giant announced a wave of new partnerships with companies including Eli Lilly, Palantir, Hyundai, Samsung, Uber and Joby Aviation, as well as the US Department of Energy, as CEO Jensen Huang sought to play down concerns about an AI bubble. The news sent its shares soaring, with Nvidia becoming the first publicly traded company to surpass a market capitalization of $5 trillion.
