Nvidia expands South Korean AI partnerships across chips, cloud, and robotics 

Nvidia has announced new South Korean partnerships with SK Hynix, Naver, SK Telecom, Doosan Group, LG Group, and Hyundai Motor Group. The agreements came during CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to South Korea, where he met several corporate leaders.

• Nvidia announced South Korean AI partnerships with SK Hynix, Naver, SK Telecom, Doosan, LG, and Hyundai.
• SK Hynix signed a multi-year memory partnership to support Nvidia’s global AI data center plans.
• South Korea’s Kospi fell 8.3%, while Samsung and SK Hynix shares dropped after a strong tech rally.

The companies did not disclose the financial value of the deals. Nvidia said the partnerships cover memory chips, AI data centers, robotics, mobility, and industrial AI systems.

SK Hynix deepens Nvidia memory partnership

According to SK Group, SK Hynix signed a multi-year technology partnership with Nvidia. The deal focuses on advanced memory products for global AI data centers. SK Hynix and Nvidia said the agreement will help supply meet Nvidia’s expansion plans. Nvidia has expanded its work across robotics, personal computers, and AI supercomputers. Memory chip producers have faced rising demand from AI infrastructure projects.

Huang said SK Hynix remains Nvidia’s largest memory partner. “SK Hynix has been Nvidia’s largest memory partner,” Huang said after meeting SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. He added that SK Hynix would continue holding that role. Huang also said Nvidia already buys billions of dollars in products from the company each year. He said those purchases would grow substantially.

Huang said SK Hynix’s plan to double memory wafer capacity by 2030 would not meet AI demand. He said the agreement would run for more than two years, with extension options. SK Hynix competes with Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology in memory chips. NH Investment & Securities analyst Ryu Young-ho said the deal showed memory chips becoming more customer-specific. The partnership came as AI data centers need more high-bandwidth memory.

Nvidia adds AI data center partners

SK Telecom said it will build a gigawatt-scale AI cloud in South Korea using Nvidia technology. The company expects its first AI data center under the plan to come online in 2027. Nvidia said Naver and Doosan will also use its technology for AI data centers. Doosan develops robots and makes materials used in Nvidia’s Blackwell chips. The company expects its energy solution to support Nvidia data center platforms.

Nvidia is also working with LG Group on electronics, mechanical systems, and humanoid robot AI. Huang said the companies discussed future data center architecture with LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo. The work includes cooling, power delivery, and data center design. After meeting Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, Huang said Nvidia would deepen AI collaboration. The areas include autonomous mobility, robotics, and AI-powered manufacturing.

Huang also referred to Hyundai’s planned AI data center in Saemangeum as an “AI Valley.” He said he was “very happy to build Nvidia in Saemangeum.” South Korea’s tech ministry separately said it plans to secure 9,704 GPUs for a state AI project. The 2026 project is worth 2.08 trillion won. The planned order includes 2,016 Nvidia Vera Rubin GPUs.

South Korea chip stocks fall after rally

South Korea remains a major manufacturing base for chips, electronics, cars, and ships. SK Hynix and Samsung are the world’s two largest memory chip makers. The country’s Kospi index had doubled in six months before Monday’s decline. AI demand had supported gains in several major South Korean technology stocks. However, global tech shares dropped after strong U.S. jobs data raised rate-hike expectations.

The Kospi closed 8.3% lower on Monday. Samsung shares fell 10.2%, while SK Hynix shares dropped 7.7%. Huang dismissed concerns when asked about the chip stock selloff. “Everybody should be very excited,” Huang said. He added that people could now buy stock at a cheaper price.

Samsung Electronics co-CEO Jun Young-hyun also met Huang during the visit. Jun said they discussed cooperation on next-generation foundry chips. He said talks covered autonomous driving chips, HBM5 memory, and Groq’s AI LP30 chips. Samsung said those Groq chips are scheduled for shipment in the second half of this year. The discussions added another chip-related item to Huang’s South Korea schedule.