(3rd LD) Nvidia's Jensen Huang holds 'samgyeopsal' dinner with Korean biz leaders

SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap) -- Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang on Friday held a casual Korean-style barbecue dinner with South Korean business leaders, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, in Seoul in a move highlighting their business cooperation in the booming artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

Huang, Chey, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin gathered at a samgyeopsal restaurant in the northwestern Hongdae area.

They ate samgyeopsal, or grilled pork belly, accompanied by a mix of soju and beer, dubbed "sam-so" in Korean.

Hundreds of people and journalists assembled outside the restaurant to catch a glimpse of the rare meeting of AI industry leaders.

The companies at the gathering span nearly every layer of the AI value chain, including semiconductors, data centers, AI models, software and robotics.

Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang (2nd from L) speaks during a dinner with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin at a samgyeopsal restaurant in the Hongdae area, northwestern Seoul, on June 5, 2026. (Yonhap)

"My gift? I brought four new businesses to Korea ... Korea is going to be very busy," Huang said, referring to Vera Rubin, a next-generation AI supercomputing platform; Vera, Nvidia's first central processing unit (CPU) designed for AI; RTX Spark, the company's first laptop; and Jetson Thor, an AI supercomputer designed for humanoid robots.

He said the new products will require large amounts of memory chips, including high bandwidth memory (HBM), an area in which South Korean chipmakers hold a strong advantage.

"We are also building a very prominent research center here in Korea," he said, adding that the center is hiring AI researchers and robotics engineers in Korea.

Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin (from R to L) toast during dinner at a samgyeopsal restaurant in the Hongdae area, northwestern Seoul, on June 5, 2026. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Before the dinner, Huang visited an internet cafe in Seoul and met with esports players, including gaming superstar Faker.

"This is the birthplace of esports," Huang said, emphasizing that Korean gamers have long been among the world's most competitive players who are using Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs).

Nvidia's GeForce graphics cards are designed to deliver the high frame rates demanded by professional gamers.

Huang arrived in South Korea earlier i