Korea’s $950 Billion ‘AI Cooperation’ with Global Big Tech Bears Fruit from President Lee’s U.S. Visit [President Lee’s U.S. Tour]
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- 2026-07-26 18:31:59
- Updated
- 2026-07-26 18:31:59
According to the Blue House on the 25th (local time), Kim Yong-bum, Chief of the Presidential Policy Office, stated during a briefing in San Francisco on the 24th, "Domestic companies and global big tech firms have agreed to pursue cooperation in the semiconductor sector worth a total of $950 billion. " Samsung Electronics and Broadcom signed a memorandum of understanding for foundry cooperation to supply advanced memory semiconductors worth $200 billion over the next five years and to produce artificial intelligence (AI) chips. SK agreed to cooperate with global big tech firms, including Nvidia, on the long-term supply of advanced memory semiconductors worth $750 billion over the next five years.
Regarding the nature of the cooperation, Chief Kim described it as a "long-term purchase contract," explaining that "we have received advance contracts and pre-orders for memory. " He further explained, "It is not an investment, but a contract to definitively purchase that volume if memory is manufactured," adding, "Our country has secured a definitive order. " On this day, President Lee attended the San Francisco AI Summit after holding individual meetings with global big tech leaders, including NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amoday.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin also attended the summit. Investment cooperation in the AI Data Center (AIDC) sector, in addition to semiconductors, has also materialized. Domestic companies and global big tech firms have agreed to pursue investment cooperation for AI data centers with a scale of approximately 5 GW and about 2 million Graphics Processing Units (GPUs).
SK Telecom is collaborating with NVIDIA to build and expand AI data centers with a capacity of up to 2 GW, and is also pursuing investment cooperation with Anthropic for domestic GW-scale AI data center projects. Naver is embarking on the construction of a global AI factory worth a total of $10 billion, in partnership with Nvidia and Brookfield. Through the San Francisco AI Declaration, President Lee presented a vision to establish South Korea as a global AI production base and a foundation for AI innovation.
President Lee outlined plans to make Korea a reliable AI semiconductor manufacturing base and supply chain partner, as well as a new market that utilizes AI most rapidly and effectively. While global Big Tech CEOs expressed expectations regarding the speed of Korea's AI infrastructure development, they also requested that the licensing process be expedited. Chief of Staff Kim stated, "They expressed a desire for quick licensing regarding the AIDC.
" In response, President Lee reportedly replied to the effect that "I am quite fast when it comes to speed. " Conversations regarding the domestic stock market also took place during the dinner. Chief of Staff Kim reported that when President Lee mentioned the recent correction in the domestic stock market, CEO Jensen Huang remarked, "It will rise again.
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