LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo is scheduled to travel to the United States next week to meet with Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang in Silicon Valley, as the two companies look to deepen their cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and robotics, industry sources said Thursday.

The upcoming meeting follows an initial encounter between the two executives in Seoul on June 8, approximately two months earlier. During that session, Huang indicated that Nvidia, the U.S.-based semiconductor designer and a dominant force in AI accelerators, would pursue a partnership with LG Group focused on humanoid robots and next-generation data centers.

Koo noted at the time that the two sides had been unable to engage in detailed discussions due to time constraints. In response, Huang extended an invitation for Koo to visit California to continue the conversation.

According to industry sources, the follow-up talks are expected to cover the scale of potential investments as well as a timetable for joint technology development. The discussions come amid a broader push by South Korean conglomerates to strengthen their positions in AI-related fields, including AI chips, cloud computing, and smart robotics — areas where domestic rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have already established significant footholds in high-bandwidth memory and foundry services.

The meeting also reflects Nvidia's ongoing efforts to expand collaborations with major global technology and manufacturing partners as demand for AI computing infrastructure continues to grow worldwide. Nvidia has been broadening its reach beyond GPU design into robotics software, having unveiled Project GR00T, a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots, alongside its Jetson Thor computing platform for robotics at its GTC developer conference earlier in 2024.

LG Group, a diversified industrial conglomerate spanning electronics, chemicals, and telecommunications through affiliates such as LG Electronics and LG Chem, has been actively seeking to grow its presence in AI and robotics. LG Electronics already operates a robotics division that has deployed commercial service robots under its CLOi brand in hospitality and retail settings, while the broader group has pursued AI chip development through partnerships after exiting the semiconductor manufacturing business in the late 1990s.

(Source: Yonhap, via Korea Herald)