Nvidia and SK deepen AI cooperation over dinner

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang met SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won for dinner at the Kkanbu Chicken Samsung branch in Seoul's Gangnam district on June 7, according to Asiae and The Korea Herald. Reporting indicates SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung and SK Telecom CEO Jeong Jae-heon joined, with conversation spanning AI semiconductors, HBM4 memory, and digital twins. MK reports that during the same multi-day visit Huang also met Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, demonstrated RTX Spark at an internet cafe, and threw the ceremonial first pitch at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, telling gamers that NVIDIA had grown alongside them and thanking the GeForce community.

SK hynix is NVIDIA's principal supplier of high-bandwidth memory, the component that gates production of NVIDIA's top AI accelerators. Korean outlets report Huang praised SK hynix's HBM as best in class and that HBM4 was on the agenda, linking the dinner directly to the memory supply chain that constrains AI server output. CNBC reports Huang used the trip to caution that the memory shortage could persist for years, which makes these supplier relationships materially relevant to data-center buildout timelines.

Class B analysis: Korean business press frames these casual Kkanbu gatherings as recurring touchpoints rather than negotiation sessions, and no binding agreement or MOU was announced at the dinner itself. For practitioners, the signal is continuity of a deep vendor-supplier relationship and a public read on memory availability, not a new contract.

Formal cooperation plans or MOUs from SK affiliates and NVIDIA, any HBM4 capacity or allocation statements from SK hynix, and follow-through on digital-twin collaborations referencing NVIDIA platforms. CNBC reported the two sides were expected to detail a cooperation plan, so watch for specifics.