By Minwoo Park and Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL, June 5 (Reuters) - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Friday said robotics will be South Korea's next major sector, as he arrived for his second visit in seven months, underscoring deepening ties with local firms in not only chips but also robotics and AI factories.
"Because Korea is a manufacturing centre of the world, we can apply the robotics technology, the physical AI technology that we invent here for the industry," he told reporters after landing at Gimpo International
Airport on a flight from Taiwan.
South Korea is a key Asian manufacturing powerhouse - home to major manufacturers of chips, electronics, cars and ships.
"The manufacturing of semiconductors will become increasingly robotics and increasingly AI-driven in the future, and so we have a great opportunity to partner with the semiconductor companies here as well," said Huang.
Huang said he had meetings scheduled with Hyundai Motor, LG, SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and Naver during his trip.
"Did I bring any gifts for Korea? I brought a lot of business for Korea," he said.
"I have some surprises."
In his first stop, the Nvidia boss visited an internet cafe in Seoul and met with e-sports players, including gaming superstar Lee Sang-hyeok, known as "Faker." His daughter Madison Huang accompanied him during the visit, wearing a uniform of the renowned T1 e-sports team.
He is also due to have a pork barbecue dinner in the evening at a restaurant in Seoul with LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Naver founder Lee Hae-jin, a person familiar with the matter said. The source wanted to remain anonymous because the plan is confidential.
"I love Korean barbecue," he said. "I love Korean fried chicken."
When asked about potential investments in Korea, he said: "Korea has many sectors to invest in. Robotics is going to be the next major sector here in Korea."
"Korea is extraordinary at manufacturing, mechatronics, and also artificial intelligence," he said. "The fusion of all of that technology is perfect robotics."
BASEBALL AND TV TALK SHOW
Huang also said he wants to make sure that his Korean suppliers are "aligned," citing memory chips like traditional DRAM chips and advanced HBM chips.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix between them make about 70% of the memory needed for artificial intelligence chips like the ones Nvidia makes. And the country's manufacturing strength puts it in a good position to be a key player in physical AI, where the technology is embedded in robots, cars and factories, analysts say.
He also said Nvidia had started hiring for its research and development centre in Korea.
"As soon as we have enough people here, then we'll build a site," he said.
During his trip, Huang is due to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game and appear on a TV talk show.
(Reporting by Minwoo Park and Hyunjoo Jin; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang, Joyce Lee and Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Thomas Derpinghaus)
