Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at a chicken restaurant in South Korea to expand their AI cooperation.
This meeting signals a deepening strategic alliance between the world's leading AI chip designer and one of South Korea's largest conglomerates. The partnership is critical as both companies seek to secure the hardware and infrastructure necessary to scale artificial intelligence globally.
The gathering, described as a second informal "깐부 회동" or "buddy meeting," included senior executives from SK Hynix and SK Telecom [1]. These companies provide the high-bandwidth memory, and telecommunications infrastructure, that support Nvidia's processing power. The informal setting of a chicken restaurant underscores the personal nature of the relationship between the two leaders [1], [2].
This second meeting occurred about seven months after the first gathering [1]. That initial meeting took place in October of the previous year [1]. By maintaining these frequent, informal contacts, the leaders aim to broaden the scope of their AI alliance and strengthen ties with domestic partners in South Korea [1], [2], [3].
During the encounter, Huang said, "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you" [1]. While the specific technical details of the expanded cooperation were not disclosed, the presence of SK Hynix and SK Telecom executives suggests a multifaceted approach to AI integration across memory and network layers [1], [3].
The collaboration comes as Nvidia continues to diversify its supply chain and strengthen its ties with South Korean semiconductor leaders to ensure a steady flow of advanced components [2], [3].
“A second informal ‘깐부 회동’ (buddy meeting) at a chicken restaurant to broaden AI cooperation.”
The recurring informal meetings between Jensen Huang and Chey Tae-won indicate that the Nvidia-SK relationship has moved beyond a standard vendor-client transaction. By integrating SK Hynix's memory capabilities and SK Telecom's network reach, Nvidia is effectively embedding itself into the South Korean industrial ecosystem to stabilize its AI supply chain against global volatility.
