On the 6th (local time), Chung Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, who visited CES 2026, the world's largest home appliance and IT trade show that opened at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in the United States, met privately with Jensen Huang, chief executive officer (CEO) of Nvidia. Following the "kkanbu meeting" held in Korea with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong in Oct. last year, the two met again at CES 2026, drawing attention to whether Hyundai Motor's global cooperation will further expand.
Starting around 1:50 p.m., Chairman Chung held a meeting for about 30 minutes with CEO Huang at the Fontainebleau hotel, where Nvidia's pavilion was set up. Before the meeting, Chung toured Nvidia's pavilion and listened to an explanation about Alpamayoi, the first Autonomous Driving platform Nvidia released the previous day. He then had a brief chat with Huang's daughter, Madison Huang, before beginning the meeting with the CEO.
As the meeting between Chairman Chung and CEO Huang took place again after three months, attention is on whether cooperation between Hyundai Motor Group and Nvidia will expand. Hyundai Motor Group signed a strategic partnership with Nvidia in Jan. last year and decided in Oct. to introduce 50,000 units of Blackwell, Nvidia's next-generation graphics processing unit (GPU). Hyundai Motor Group is expected to use this GPU to advance its physical AI capabilities.
In particular, the focus on this meeting is largely due to its implications for Autonomous Driving. While Hyundai Motor Group has been assessed as lacking in Autonomous Driving capabilities compared with rivals such as Tesla, Nvidia unveiled the Autonomous Driving platform Alpamayoi the previous day, and the next day Chairman Chung and CEO Huang met. The question is whether Hyundai Motor Group will use collaboration with Nvidia to lay the groundwork for growth in Autonomous Driving technology.
Jang Jae-hoon, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, noted the possibility of cooperating with Alpamayoi during a media day briefing for CES 2026 held the previous day at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. "There are various ways and possibilities," Jang said, adding, "We will soon decide the group's overall strategic direction."
Hyundai Motor Group also presented "global cooperation" the previous day as a strategy for success in physical AI. It signed a strategic partnership with Google DeepMind, which develops Boston Dynamics and Gemini Robotics, among others, for the group's robotics affiliates. Vice Chairman Jang said, "We plan to broaden the scope of cooperation with Nvidia and Google to include a 'software-defined factory' (SDF) and robotics foundation models."
Chairman Chung arrived at the LVCC at about 9:36 a.m. that day. Wearing rolled-up shirt sleeves and sneakers, he first visited Doosan Group's booth in the LVCC West Hall. Doosan Group's booth is about 3 meters from Hyundai Motor Group's pavilion. Chung viewed an AI small modular reactor (SMR), a gas turbine, and Doosan Bobcat's compact construction equipment for 10 minutes.
Chung then visited Hyundai Motor Group's booth and closely checked the group's AI Robotics exhibits. At the booth, he viewed Boston Dynamics' next-generation electric Atlas and closely watched a demonstration of the mobility robot platform MobED. He also checked the Ioniq 5 robotaxi and the EV charging system, wrapping up the tour in just over 20 minutes. Accompanying Chung were Vice Chairman Jang Jae-hoon of Hyundai Motor Group and José Muñoz, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor, among others.
Chung next visited the booth of LG Electronics in the LVCC Central Hall. Eun Seok-hyun, head of LG Electronics' VS division, served as guide, and Chung toured the in-vehicle solutions pavilion. He reviewed in-vehicle AI technologies including the Ultra View windshield screen, AI cockpit, displays, Autonomous Driving applications, and audio.
Chung's last stop was Samsung Electronics' pavilion. Beginning his tour around 11:20 a.m., he viewed Samsung Electronics' Micro RGB 130-inch TV, followed by the AI Food Manager refrigerator and a robot vacuum. In the Galaxy Zone, he was also said to have tried operating a tri-fold device.