Nvidia's Multi-Billion AI Partnerships with South Korea Tech Titans

Fri Oct 31 2025 22:33:33 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Nvidia's latest agreements with South Korean firms mark a significant move towards establishing advanced AI infrastructure in the region, amidst ongoing US-China trade tensions.

Nvidia has secured significant contracts to supply over 260,000 advanced AI chips to leading South Korean companies such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai. These partnerships, announced at a recent APEC summit, aim to enhance South Korea's capabilities in producing AI technology for a variety of applications. Meanwhile, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang remains hopeful of restoring its business relations in China, following a notable week where the company was valued at $5 trillion for the first time. The agreements are pivotal as South Korea aims to strengthen its position as a regional AI hub, while Nvidia navigates complexities from the US-China trade landscape.

US chip giant Nvidia will supply more than 260,000 of its most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to South Korea's government, as well as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai.

The companies will all deploy the AI chips in factories to make everything from semiconductors and robots to autonomous vehicles and meant that South Korea can 'now produce intelligence as a new export,' chief executive Jensen Huang said.

Mr. Huang did not disclose the value of the South Korean deals.

It caps off a busy week for Nvidia, which on Wednesday became the first company to be valued at $5 trillion and on Thursday saw signs of a thaw in US-China trade relations that may mean it can export more of its chips to China.

Speaking at a CEO summit on the sidelines of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Gyeongju, South Korea, Mr. Huang added that with the chips, companies would be able to create 'digital twins' with other factories around the world.

These deals form part of Nvidia's latest effort to expand AI infrastructure globally, to further integrate AI into products and services.

Nvidia has been striking international partnerships which helped it become the first company ever to be valued at $5 trillion on Wednesday.

Caught in the middle

The South Korea deals come as Nvidia grapples with the fallout of the China-US trade war.

China made up more than a tenth of Nvidia's revenue last year, but the extent of China's access to Nvidia's chips has been a point of friction with Washington.

We used to have 95% share of the AI business in China. Now we're at 0% share. And I'm disappointed by that, Huang said in Gyeongju on Friday.

Trump said after his meeting with Xi on Thursday that Beijing will hold talks with Nvidia to discuss sales of its chips in China.

On Friday, Huang said he would like to sell Nvidia's state-of-the-art Blackwell chips to China, although the decision needed to be made by the US President.

The US imposes export controls on sales to China of Nvidia's most-advanced AI chips.

It's in the best interest of America to have the China market and it's in China's interest to have an American company bring technology to the country, Huang said.

AI power

South Korea - which is already home to major semiconductor companies and vehicle manufacturers - wants to become a regional AI hub.

The country is the ideal place to expand AI infrastructure, according to the Nvidia CEO, because of its access to energy and land, and its ability to construct factories.

With the Nvidia deal, the South Korean government plans to build computing infrastructure that it will control, a term known as 'sovereign AI'.

More than 50,000 Nvidia chips will power data centres at the National AI Computing Center and facilities owned by South Korean companies like Kakao and Naver.

Nvidia is primarily a chip designer, and so outsources most of its physical production to manufacturers like Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC.

National security experts and some politicians have long voiced concerns about the US selling AI chips to China, saying that Beijing could use them to gain an advantage in AI, as well as in military applications.

Nvidia's share price was this week further boosted by a wave of new deals, including partnerships with the US Department of Energy, Nokia, Uber, and Stellantis - moves aimed at reassuring investors that AI investments will deliver returns.