Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is visiting South Korea for the first time in 15 years to unveil new plans and deepen collaboration with major Korean tech companies — including Hyundai Motor, Samsung, SK, and Naver. During this week’s APEC Summit 2025, Nvidia and the South Korean government announced an expanded partnership to boost the country’s AI infrastructure and physical AI capabilities.
The announcement comes just days after the U.S. signed technology deals with Japan and South Korea, aiming to deepen strategic ties and boost collaboration on emerging technologies, including AI, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotech, and 6G.
South Korea will secure over 260,000 of Nvidia’s latest GPUs to meet growing AI demands, the South Korean government announced on Friday. Around 50,000 GPUs will support public initiatives, including the development of domestic AI foundation models and a national AI data center. The remaining over 200,000 GPUs will go to companies such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor Group, and Naver, driving AI-based manufacturing innovation and industry-specific AI model development.
Nvidia, Samsung team up on AI factory and AI-RAN for 6G
Samsung also announced plans to build an AI mega-factory in partnership with Nvidia, bringing AI into every stage of its manufacturing for semiconductors, mobile devices, and robotics. 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 over 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 boost performance and cut battery use, and under a new agreement, Nvidia and South Korea’s industry and research institutions will jointly develop next-generation AI-RAN and a global testbed, the Korean government stated.
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In mid-October, Nvidia said Samsung Foundry will help make custom CPUs and XPUs, following its work with Intel to connect x86 CPUs directly to Nvidia platforms via NVLink Fusion.
Hyundai drives future mobility with AI factory
Meanwhile, Hyundai and Nvidia are joining forces to build AI infrastructure and advance technologies in physical AI. The partnership plans to focus on autonomous mobility, smart factories, and robotics, while collaborating on high-performance GPU supply and investment
According to Nvidia, the companies will use 50,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs for integrated AI model training, validation, and deployment, and will 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 AI and computing platforms are transforming how the world moves,” said Huang. “Together with Hyundai Motor Group — Korea’s industrial powerhouse and one of the world’s top mobility solutions providers — we’re building intelligent cars and factories that will shape the future of the multitrillion-dollar mobility industry.”
SK builds AI cloud; Naver partners on physical AI
SK Group, parent of SK Hynix, is partnering with Nvidia to build Asia’s first enterprise-led manufacturing AI cloud, leveraging Nvidia’s simulation and digital twin platforms and opening access to the 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 across key industries, including semiconductors, shipbuilding, energy, and biotechnology, aiming to accelerate the adoption of AI solutions optimized for real-world industrial environments, according to Naver.
“Just as the automotive industry is transitioning to SDVs, the era of ‘Physical AI,’ where AI operates directly within real industrial sites and systems, is unfolding,” Hae-jin Lee, founder of Naver, said in Naver’s statement.
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, which is the fusion of AI and hardware across industries. These partnerships show how global tech leaders are joining forces to shape the next generation of intelligent systems.
Earlier this week, the U.S. tech giant announced a wave of new partnerships with companies, including Eli Lilly, Palantir, Hyundai, Samsung, Uber, and Joby Aviation, along with the U.S. Department of Energy, as CEO Jensen Huang sought to downplay concerns about an AI bubble. The news sent its stock soaring, as Nvidia became the first publicly traded company to surpass a $5 trillion market capitalization.
