Lee meets with OpenAI, Nvidia, Broadcom, Anthropic chiefs to discuss Korea's transformation into AI society

President Lee Jae Myung met separately with the chief executives of four global technology companies — Anthropic, OpenAI, Nvidia and Broadcom — in San Francisco on Friday to seek support for the Korean government’s “three megaprojects,” aimed at transforming Korea into an AI-driven economy.

During the meetings, Lee outlined his vision for an “AI nation” and called for closer cooperation between Korean and U.S. companies in semiconductors, data centers, sovereign AI and large language models.

The president first met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at a hotel.

“[We] are preparing for a new future centered on AI,” Lee said, adding that Nvidia’s supply of GPUs has helped Korea accelerate its AI ambitions, despite the country not being fully prepared.

He then expressed hope that Huang will continue to play a leading role in the Korean government’s three megaprojects to build an AI-centered society.

Huang responded that the president’s vision has energized Korea, and that the enthusiasm that he experienced during his recent visit to the country was remarkable.

The Nvidia CEO also previewed a series of announcements — including Nvidia and SK Group’s plans to unveil a business partnership worth about $500 billion — for the AI summit later that day.

According to Huang, Nvidia will expand its cooperation with Korean companies through chip and memory design partnerships with SK hynix and Samsung Electronics; a large-scale investment in Naver; and joint development of autonomous Genesis vehicles and robotics with Hyundai Motor Group and of power generation systems with LG.

He also said that Nvidia will launch an “AI Frontier Lab” in Korea and plans to relocate leading AI researchers from California to the country.

Huang described the past year under Lee’s leadership as an extraordinary period for Korea, saying that it would not be an exaggeration to call it a “golden age.”

The president also met with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Broadcom CEO Hock Tan, where he explained the Korean government’s plan to restructure industries around AI and urged both companies to participate in the three megaprojects.

During the meeting, Altman said that he considers Korea one of the world’s most important countries in the AI era because of the government’s commitment to the sector, and that leaders of other countries should pay closer attention to Lee’s leadership and investment strategy.

Broadcom CEO Tan said that he was particularly impressed that Korean startups and small- and mid-sized enterprises were actively developing their own large language models despite the dominance of large conglomerates. He added that Broadcom is pleased to contribute to Korea’s sovereign AI ambitions.

Earlier, Lee met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei — his first meeting of the day.

Anthropic has high expectations for cooperation with Korean companies, Amodei said, citing Korean memory manufacturers’ heavy investments in the company and planned collaborations in areas including data centers.

He also unveiled that Anthropic has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT, covering AI safety and cybersecurity cooperation — a partnership with Korea that he described as “exciting.”

“Korea plans to expand its AI-related investments, and we hope that Anthropic will deepen its interest in Korea through additional investment and cooperation,” Lee said.

The meeting came about a week after he publicly referred to the “Mythos shock” during a policy briefing by the Ministry of Science and ICT on July 16.

At the time, the president cited Claude Mythos 5, Anthropic’s most advanced AI model, and instructed officials to prepare for the possibility that Korea could lose access to the technology, comparing such dependence to entrusting the front gate of one’s home to someone who could decide to leave at any time.

BY OH HYUN-SEOK [[email protected]]