Nvidia signs AI deals with SK Hynix, Hyundai, LG, Naver in Seoul

Jensen Huang spent four days in South Korea dining on grilled pork belly, throwing baseball pitches, and meeting gamers.

It was on Monday when he started working on some news concerning AI partnership with six major companies of the country that involve advanced memory chips, gigawatt scale data centers, humanoid robots, and autonomous vehicles.

The first of the major announcements was made with regard to signing a technology partnership agreement between Nvidia and SK Hynix, which is the largest producer of memory products used in AI computer chips.

According to the agreement, SK Hynix will develop advanced memory solutions to ensure adequate supply for AI data centres around the world.

"SK Hynix has been Nvidia's largest memory partner. SK Hynix will continue to be Nvidia's largest memory partner," Huang said after meeting SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at SK Hynix's parent headquarters.

The deal was seen as being in place for more than two years, although the time can be extended, with Nvidia currently buying "billions and billions of dollars' worth of memory", which will increase further.

NH Investment & Securities analyst Ryu Young-ho said the deal emphasised that memory is not a commodity anymore but is becoming "customer-tailored according to each AI architecture".

SK Telecom will build a gigawatt-scale AI cloud in South Korea using Nvidia technology, with the first data centre scheduled to come online in 2027.

The LG Group agreed to partner up with Nvidia in terms of electronics, mechanics, and artificial intelligence for humanoid robots. According to Huang, the two tech firms will work on the entire architecture of upcoming data centres in cooling, power distribution, and architecture design.

Huang mentioned that following discussions with executive chairman Euisun Chung, Nvidia will expand its partnerships in autonomous mobility, robotics, and artificial intelligence manufacturing operations. 

The Nvidia executive referred to the company's plan for setting up an AI data centre in Saemangeum as an "AI Valley", which is like America's Silicon Valley and where he is very "happy to build Nvidia".