Chey Tae-won meet with Nvidia CEO to discuss possible collaboration on physical AI
Korea Herald Correspondent
LAS VEGAS -- SK hynix’s development pace of its popular AI memory chip has surpassed Nvidia’s demands, and their collaboration is going smoothly, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said Wednesday.
Hosting a press conference on the sidelines of CES 2025, the world's largest tech show, Chey confirmed that he met with Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang and discussed many issues, including moving articial intelligence into the physical world, what's referred to as physical AI.
“Until now, SK hynix’s development pace has lagged behind Nvidia’s, and it has been challenging to meet their requests. Recently, though, I think we can say that our development pace has slightly surpassed Nvidia's demand,” Chey said.
“The dynamics could shift again sometime, but as for now, we are competing head-to-head to accelerate development pace.”
Regarding their high bandwidth memory collaboration, working-level staff have already completed the deal and decided the supply volume for this year, Chey said. With Huang, he reaffirmed their collaboration.
During the press conference, Chey spoke of SK’s AI vision and how the company is exploring solutions that can serve as models for AI data centers, in addition to its development of AI-related features for semiconductors.
“Our focus is on the industrialization of AI data centers. Here, I don’t have to have the specifics to describe the industrialization we seek, as there are various approaches. But I can say that AI data centers are at the center of our business initiative,” Chey said.
With Huang, Chey discussed physical AI, which Huang underscored in his keynote speech opening the CES 2025 event on Monday.
"We just shared our opinions on physical AI. Korea is a manufacturing powerhouse, with a lot of knowhow. Jensen also expressed interest in areas like digital twins and Nvidia's Cosmos platform he introduced, which align with physical AI," Chey said.
"There is nothing concrete yet but we agreed that it would be great to explore collaboration in these areas moving forward."
Chey noted that AI is not a matter of choice but a necessity for Korea’s survival and said the government should systematically develop AI-related infrastructure.
“If we fall behind the competition in the AI sector, we risk weakening the competitiveness of all industries we have taken pride in, whether it is semiconductors, ship building or steel,” Chey said.
In the long term, Chey stressed that the country should build its own AI models instead of only relying on externally based APIs.
The chairman explained that, while it might be difficult to make a foundational AI model from scratch, the country should leverage existing models to develop something adapted to Korea.
Choosing focus areas to concentrate resources is also critical for the country to achieve global leadership.
“Standing as the second or third player in this (AI) field will not guarantee survival in this highly competitive ‘war,’” Chey said.
The SK chief also underscored that it is critical for companies to cultivate talent who can seamlessly and regularly use AI in their work and lives.
During his tour around the SK showroom, he revealed that he has made deals with clients at the tech show event. He stopped in front of the glass substrate product by SKC, held the product in his hand and said, "I just sold this (to a client)."
He also visited Samsung Electronics' showroom to check out the tech firm's Home AI technology, guided by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee.
By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)
