FILE PHOTO: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
Seoul, Republic of Korea: US chip titan Nvidia announced on Monday a raft of artificial intelligence deals in Republic of Korea, where booming business for semiconductor companies is fuelling debate over how much of the profits go to workers.
Nvidia, the world's most valuable company, unveiled with SK Telecom a "gigawatt-scale" AI data centre construction project, with the first facility set to come online in 2027.
It will support "AI services for enterprises and industries across Republic of Korea, with the vision to expand to greater Asia regions", the companies said.
No figure was given for how much the pair will invest in the data centres, or for other new tie-ups that Nvidia touted with the likes of Naver, LG Group, Hyundai and Doosan Group, including on AI robotics.
The deals were unveiled after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spent the weekend eating barbecue and fried chicken with the country's tech leaders in Seoul and appearing on a popular TV show.
Nvidia also said it would work with chipmaker SK hynix to develop advanced memory components that are needed to run AI systems but are currently in short supply.
Their "multi-year technology partnership" will "sustain the global buildout of AI factories" by supporting supply for advanced memory chips, they said.
Lian Jye Su, a chief analyst at Omdia, told AFP that Nvidia's new deals were "about strengthening existing relationships and further validating South Korea's role in the global AI supply chain".
