Nvidia expands global AI deployment with great deals in South Korea

US chip giant Nvidia will supply more than 260,000 of its most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to the South Korean government, as well as Samsung, LG and Hyundai.

All the companies will deploy AI chips in factories to make everything from semiconductors and robots to autonomous vehicles and means South Korea “can now produce intelligence as a new export,” CEO Jensen Huang said.

Huang did not disclose the value of the South Korean deals.

It caps a busy week for Nvidia, which on Wednesday became the first company to be valued at $5 trillion and on Thursday saw signs of a thaw in US-China trade relations that could mean it could export more of its chips to China.

Speaking at a CEO summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Gyeongju, South Korea, Mr Huang added that the chips would allow companies to create “digital twins” with other factories around the world.

These deals are part of Nvidia’s latest efforts to expand its AI infrastructure globally, to further integrate AI into products and services.

Nvidia established international partnerships that helped it become the first company valued at $5 trillion (£3.8tn) on Wednesday.

The South Korean deals come as Nvidia grapples with the fallout from the China-US trade war.

China accounted for more than a tenth of Nvidia’s revenue last year, but China’s degree of access to Nvidia’s chips has been a point of friction with Washington.

“We used to have a 95% share of the AI ​​business in China. Now we’re at a 0% share. And I’m disappointed about that,” Huang said in Gyeongju on Friday.

This is what Trump said after his meeting with Xi on Thursday that Beijing will hold talks with Nvidia to discuss sales of its chips in China.

Trump said the talks remained between China and the US company, but that the US government would play the role of a “referee” of sorts.

On Friday, Huang said he would like to sell Nvidia’s state-of-the-art Blackwell chips to China, although the decision would have to be made by the US president.

US imposes export controls on Chinese sales of Nvidia’s cutting-edge AI chips.

The tech boss had no news on sales in China or talks between the two leaders, but hopes they will find a way to have new policies that allow chips back into China.

“It is in America’s best interest to have the Chinese market, and it is in China’s interest for an American company to bring technology to the country,” Huang said.

“We would like to see American technology be the world standard.”

South Korea – already home to major semiconductor companies and vehicle manufacturers – wants to become a regional AI hub.

The country is the perfect place to expand AI infrastructure, according to Nvidia’s CEO, because of its access to energy and land and its ability to build factories.

President Lee Jae Myung said he would prioritize investment in AI after taking office in the face of US tariffs.

With the Nvidia deal, the South Korean government plans to build a computing infrastructure that it will control, a term known as “sovereign AI.”

More than 50,000 Nvidia chips will power data centers at the National Artificial Intelligence Computing Center and facilities owned by South Korean companies such as Kakao and Naver.

The chip giant depends on tightly-knit supply chains that run through the Asia-Pacific region.

Nvidia is primarily a chip designer and therefore outsources most of its physical manufacturing to manufacturers such as Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC.

TSMC is an important partner for Nvidia, creating the company’s most advanced AI chips, including its flagship Blackwell series.

Samsung makes parts for Nvidia’s H20 chips, a scaled-down processor made for the Chinese market under US export rules.

National security experts and some politicians have long expressed concern about the US selling AI chips to China, saying Beijing could use them to gain an edge in AI as well as military applications.

Analysts say U.S. efforts to block China’s access to advanced computer chips have encouraged innovation in China.

Both Huawei and Alibaba have unveiled their own chips that they say can rival Nvidia’s products for the Chinese market.

Beijing has also reportedly banned domestic firms from buying from Nvidia, urging them to buy from Chinese chipmakers to boost the domestic technology industry.

“We deeply respect China’s capabilities,” Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said on Friday.

Nvidia’s share price was further boosted this week by a flurry of new deals, including partnerships with the US Department of Energy, Nokia, Uber and Stellantis – moves aimed at reassuring investors that investments in AI will yield returns.

Hopes of a revival in sales in China following trade talks between Presidents Trump and Xi also boosted stocks.

Additional reporting by jaltson is chammar