GYEONJU, South Korea (AP) — Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia plans to supply hundreds of thousands of its graphics processors to South Korean business and government projects to develop the country's artificial intelligence infrastructure and technology.
The government, Nvidia and leading South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics announced the plan after South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang on Friday.
Since Huang arrived in South Korea on Thursday to attend meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Gyeongju, he has been treated like a rock star, reminiscent of Apple's Steve Jobs. As host of APEC, South Korea is using the meeting of world leaders to showcase its ambitions in artificial intelligence.
Lee's office said Nvidia will supply about 260,000 GPUs to support artificial intelligence computing capabilities in South Korea. The company will also work with Samsung and other South Korean technology firms, including SK Hynix and Hyundai, to improve manufacturing processes using artificial intelligence and speed up the development of new technologies.
Santa Clara-headquartered Nvidia, whose graphics processing unit chips power much of the global artificial intelligence industry, took part in talks Thursday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Gyeongju, where the leaders agreed to take steps to ease an escalating trade war.
After the meeting, Trump said he discussed sales of computer chips to China. Trump and former President Joe Biden have imposed restrictions on China's access to cutting-edge chips, including those used for artificial intelligence. Trump said China would talk to Nvidia about buying their chips, but not the company's latest Blackwell AI chips.
In August, Trump announced an agreement with Nvidia and AMD, another chipmaker, to lift export controls on sales of advanced chips to China in exchange for a 15 percent cut in revenue, despite concerns from national security experts that such chips would end up in the hands of China's military and intelligence agencies.
Earlier this week, Nvidia confirmed it had become the first $5 trillion company, just three months after the company passed the $4 trillion mark. The milestone underscores the upheaval driven by the artificial intelligence craze, which many consider the biggest technological breakthrough since Apple co-founder Jobs unveiled the first iPhone 18 years ago.
But there are also concerns about a potential AI bubble. Bank of England officials warned earlier this month that technology share prices, fueled by the AI boom, could collapse, and the head of the International Monetary Fund issued a similar warning.
