The AI alliance between South Korea and the United States has taken a significant step forward during the AI Summit in San Francisco. Major South Korean companies, including Samsung, SK, and Hyundai, reaffirmed their partnerships with leading U.S. tech firms such as Google, NVIDIA, and Waymo to develop AI infrastructure. This strong integration of the South Korea-U.S. AI value chain is expected to help domestic companies maintain leadership in the upcoming era of Physical AI.
According to industry sources, the economic cooperation resulting from President Lee Jae-myung's visit to San Francisco is estimated to be worth $950 billion (approximately 1,400 trillion won). The plans encompass essential areas for AI infrastructure, including advanced semiconductor manufacturing, autonomous vehicles, Physical AI, and the establishment of AI data centers. Companies like Samsung, SK, and Hyundai aim to combine U.S. core technologies with South Korea's advanced memory, manufacturing foundry, and humanoid AI capabilities to secure a foothold in the global AI market.
Samsung Electronics plans to build the 'brain' of AI infrastructure based on its world-class 'turnkey solutions' that encompass memory, foundry, and advanced packaging. A notable example is the $200 billion contract with Broadcom for advanced memory semiconductor supply and foundry services for AI chip production. Additionally, Samsung will supply high-performance memory for AI accelerators designed by Broadcom and expand collaboration in AI semiconductor production using advanced foundry processes.
Lee Jae-myung, chairman of Samsung Electronics, stated at the AI Summit, "If we combine the strengths of South Korea and the United States, we can innovate faster, grow larger, and solve more complex problems. We will strengthen global cooperation across borders to build a perfect ecosystem for cutting-edge semiconductors, reliable data centers, and abundant power for the AI era."
SK Group and NVIDIA are pursuing a comprehensive partnership worth $500 billion, covering everything from AI factory construction to next-generation AI memory supply. NVIDIA will supply next-generation GPUs for SK Telecom's AI factory, which will be the largest in South Korea at 2GW (gigawatts). Based on NVIDIA's full-stack AI factory architecture, the next-generation AI computing system 'Vera Rubin' equipped with SK Hynix's HBM4 will be gradually operational starting in 2027. This initiative aims to accelerate the development of large-scale AI infrastructure encompassing sovereign, physical, and enterprise AI services.
SK Chairman Chey Tae-won emphasized, "Our goal is for every citizen to have at least one AI agent. We aim to make South Korea an AI-native country and contribute to the creation of universal AI and Physical AI."
Hyundai Motor Group unveiled its vision for smart cities powered by Physical AI. The newly announced 'Physical AI Vision' aims to achieve an AI city that goes beyond the intelligence of individual objects like cars and robots. Hyundai plans to combine its strengths in manufacturing, mobility, and robotics with software from companies like NVIDIA, Waymo, and Google DeepMind to create AI infrastructure.
Initially, Hyundai will establish a 'robot reference platform' that integrates NVIDIA's Physical AI technology and collaborate with Waymo to develop an autonomous driving ecosystem. The Saemangeum AI Valley will see an investment of 9 trillion won to establish a future technology innovation hub encompassing robotics, AI, hydrogen energy, solar power, and AI hydrogen cities.
Chairman Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group explained, "The Physical AI we pursue starts with the intelligence of individual devices like cars and robots, progresses to the intelligence of specific spaces like AI factories, and ultimately realizes a city-level integrated intelligence where the entire urban infrastructure is organically connected and operated."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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