(News Focus) Jensen Huang's S. Korea visit signals Nvidia's broader bet on AI ecosystem

SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap) -- Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang is expected to hold a series of meetings with South Korea's top executives across a range of industries in a highly anticipated visit, underscoring the U.S. chip giant's efforts to deepen partnerships across the broader artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem beyond semiconductors and advance its vision for physical AI.

Huang, the head of the world's most valuable company and a central figure in the global AI boom, is expected to arrive in Seoul later Friday and receive the kind of attention typically reserved for celebrities.

Jensen Huang (C), CEO of U.S. chip giant Nvidia Corp., speaks to reporters at a restaurant in Taipei on June 1, 2026. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

His visit to South Korea, the first in seven months, is drawing keen interest from investors and industry leaders amid expectations of expanded AI collaboration beyond semiconductors into robotics, smart factories and AI platforms.

One of the most anticipated events is a casual dinner gathering with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin. The major tech companies cover nearly every layer of the AI value chain, from semiconductors and data centers to AI models, software and robotics.

On Sunday, Huang is scheduled to throw the ceremonial first pitch to Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won, who will serve as the ceremonial batter, at a Doosan Bears home game in Seoul. The appearance is also expected to provide an opportunity for discussions on potential AI collaboration, as Doosan Robotics is building industrial robot platforms using Nvidia's AI and robotics infrastructure.

During his four-day stay, Huang is also set to hold talks with executives from the gaming industry, AI and robotics startups, university researchers and students, according to industry sources.

The breadth of Huang's meetings reflects a growing reality: Nvidia increasingly views South Korea not merely as a supplier of memory chips, but as a strategic partner across the broader AI ecosystem.

The visit comes as Nvidia looks beyond the current AI boom driven by large language models and cloud computing toward what Huang has repeatedly described as the next frontier: physical AI. It refers to AI systems capable of interacting with the real world through robots, autonomous machines and intelligent factories.

South Korea is one of the few countries well positioned to play a leading role in that transition.

The Asian powerhouse has strengths in semiconductors, automot