It began with a toast of beer and fried chicken at a modest Seoul eatery, followed by a flurry of compliments and gift exchanges, and ended with a glitzy joint appearance on a Gangnam stage before thousands of onlookers Thursday night.
What unfolded was less a stiff corporate summit than a lively show of camaraderie among three of the world’s powerful business leaders – Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang, Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun.
In the warmth of that show of friendship, the trio signaled something bigger taking shape in their artificial intelligence alliance.
“I do have strong confidence in Samsung’s technology,” Huang told reporters when asked if the world’s most valuable AI company would entrust its most advanced chips to Samsung’s foundry.
BEER, FRIEND CHICKEN AND A FANCY WHISKEY
The evening began shortly after Huang landed at Incheon Airport, his first visit to South Korea in 15 years. He is in the country to attend the four-day APEC CEO Summit in Gyeongju, which runs through Friday.
The fried chicken-and-beer pub was chosen by Nvidia after Huang, known for his fondness for simple, local fare, suggested an impromptu, informal meet-up for conversation.
What followed was equal parts business and banter.
At Chung’s playful urging, the trio linked arms for a so-maek, which is a mix of Korean distilled spirit soju and beer, to show off their “bromance.”
Huang presented Lee and Chung with personal gifts, which are bottles of 25-year-old Hakushu whisky valued at about 6 million won ($4,200) each, and a DGX Spark, Nvidia’s miniature AI supercomputer fitted with Samsung-made solid-state drives (SSDs).
Later that night, the three appeared together at Nvidia’s 25th anniversary event for its GeForce GPU line, where Huang recalled receiving a handwritten letter from the late Samsung patriarch Lee Kun-hee in 1996, a message that first drew him to Korea.
Standing beside Samsung’s current chairman Jay Y. Lee, Huang said the letter marked the beginning of a long and enduring partnership between Nvidia and Samsung, a sentiment Lee echoed on stage.
AN ALLIANCE FORGED IN SILICON
Behind the warmth and whiskey, the meeting carried weighty implications.
According to industry officials, Huang’s Korea visit set the stage for Nvidia to finalize partnerships with Samsung, Hyundai, SK Group and Naver Corp. to supply AI accelerators – high-end chips critical to training and deploying generative AI systems.
For Samsung, the alliance could solidify its role as a strategic foundry partner for Nvidia’s next-generation processors, including the forthcoming HBM4 memory line.
Samsung has already begun supplying Nvidia with HBM3E chips and provided samples of the next-generation HBM4 chip, hinting at an even tighter production link.
For Hyundai, the partnership promises access to Nvidia’s cutting-edge AI technology to power autonomous driving, robotics and software-defined vehicles (SDVs), which is a crucial element in its transition to an AI-driven mobility company.
Before wrapping up the night, Huang offered a clue about what’s next, saying the new agreements he plans to unveil on Friday “will involve artificial intelligence and robotics.”
Taken together, the deepening cooperation hints at a triangular AI axis connecting Nvidia’s chip leadership, Samsung’s manufacturing might and Hyundai’s mobility vision.
Huang may have said it best when he told reporters: “There’s much to be announced at APEC – and President Trump already knows about it.”
