Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Courts South Korea as Samsung and SK Hynix Power 70% of AI Chip Memory

Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, is on his second visit to South Korea in just seven months, and this trip goes well beyond boardroom meetings. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together produce about 70% of the memory needed for AI chips like Nvidia’s, making South Korea an essential partner in the physical AI era. 

Huang’s visit includes meetings with top conglomerate executives, a TV talk show appearance, and a ceremonial baseball first pitch. The charm offensive signals just how dependent Nvidia has become on Korean semiconductor muscle and how much both sides stand to gain from deepening these ties.

Vera Rubin Goes Full Production With Korean Memory at Its Core

Jensen Huang confirmed at his GTC Taipei 2026 keynote on June 1 that Nvidia’s Vera Rubin AI platform is now in full production, naming Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron as its HBM4 memory suppliers. The announcement ended months of supply-chain uncertainty and sent Korean tech stocks surging immediately.

Samsung Electronics closed up 10.1% at a record high, while LG Electronics gained nearly 30% on the prospect of deeper AI and robotics partnerships.

HBM4 Supplier Breakdown

Industry analysts estimated SK Hynix holds the largest allocation, roughly 60 to 70% of HBM4 volume for Vera Rubin systems, with Samsung at approximately 25 to 30% and Micron supplying the remainder.

Supplier	Estimated HBM4 Allocation	Platform
SK Hynix	60–70%	Vera Rubin (HBM4)
Samsung Electronics	25–30%	Vera Rubin (HBM4 / HBM4E)
Micron Technology	Remainder	Vera Rubin (HBM4)

“Korea Partner Night” — Huang’s Diplomatic Push

Nvidia hosted its first-ever “Korea Partner Night” on June 1 at a restaurant in Taipei’s Da’an District, where Huang invited executives from Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics, Naver Cloud, and Doosan Robotics.

Huang praised SK Hynix’s growth and reiterated their close partnership, noting: “HBM may look simple, but it is actually an extremely complicated technology. We work very closely with SK.” He also addressed Samsung’s role directly, signaling that maintaining dual sourcing is a deliberate strategy for supply chain resilience.

The Computex Moment That Said It All

On the opening day of Computex 2026, Huang visited the SK Hynix booth, wrote “Please Make More” on an HBM4E wafer on display, and signed his name alongside the message, a gesture that captured both the informal diplomacy and the supply pressure behind Nvidia’s Korean relationships.

What Nvidia Is Deploying in South Korea

The visit is not purely about memory supply. Nvidia has deployed over 250,000 GPUs specifically tailored for sovereign AI and industrial applications within South Korea. The government’s AI buildout goals push that number higher.

• Nvidia plans to supply over 260,000 advanced AI chips to South Korea’s government and enterprise sector.
• SK Group plans a $4.9 billion AI data center powered by Nvidia GPUs to expand national AI capacity. 
• South Korea targets 200,000 high-performance GPUs deployed by 2030. 
• Huang is also meeting Hyundai Motor, Naver Cloud, and Doosan Robotics, signaling Nvidia’s ambitions extend into physical AI and industrial automation. 

Nvidia Stock Reacts

Nvidia (NVDA) shares closed Monday up 6.26% at $224.36, reflecting strong market confidence in the Korean partnership announcements. The stock dipped just 0.17% in after-hours trading to $223.97, holding most of the day’s gains.

Several South Korea-focused ETFs outpaced Nvidia’s year-to-date gains despite the chipmaker’s strong rally, a sign that markets are pricing Korean semiconductor dominance as a standalone investment theme, not just an Nvidia sub-story.

Disclaimer

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