Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will visit Korea on the 5th after finishing the GTC Taipei schedule in Taiwan. While last year's trip focused on cooperation in the graphics processing unit (GPU) supply chain, this visit has elevated "physical AI," spanning Autonomous Driving and Robotics, as the key agenda. In particular, as Huang named Korea as a major partner in Robotics, collaboration is expected with various domestic corporations, including LG Electronics.
According to the industry on the 4th, Huang is scheduled to enter the country via Gimpo Airport on the 5th. On the 5th, he will meet in succession in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin, and on the 7th he is expected to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Doosan Bears game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, among other busy engagements.
◇ Why Nvidia is leaning into physical AI, and why Korea is rising
At this GTC, Nvidia completed its software platform buildout by unveiling the physical AI–dedicated model "Cosmos 3" and the open-source humanoid development platform "Isaac GROOT" reference robot. In his keynote, Huang said, "Robots and mobility equipped with Cosmos 3 will evolve into 'acting intelligence' that understands the laws of physics and makes decisions on their own." He pointed to October this year as the inflection point for the popularization of physical AI, when Humanoid Robot labor will actually replace factory-floor workforces.
Experts interpret Huang's post-GTC moves as signaling that Nvidia's own software and hardware are ready, and the remaining task is to build hardware partnerships to implement the platform on the ground. There are several reasons Korea is emerging among Nvidia's partners. Because physical AI is advanced based on data generated in real-world sites such as factories, shipyards, and logistics centers, Korea, with its diverse manufacturing base, is seen by Nvidia as a market with significant room for collaboration.
Huang has mentioned this directly. "Korea has tremendous imagination, creativity, and ambition, but its labor population is shrinking," Huang said, adding, "AI and robots will maximize Korea's potential." Analysts say Korea's structural need to fill manufacturing workforce gaps caused by low birthrates with robots, and Nvidia's strategic need for sites to validate the AI platforms to be installed in those robots, align. As demand grows in industries such as manufacturing, logistics, shipbuilding, and steel to combine AI and robots on the ground, Korean robot startups are also emerging as potential partners in Nvidia's ecosystem.
Indeed, LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor, and Doosan—counted among Korea's advanced corporations in Robotics—are on the itinerary for Huang's visit. These corporations hold strategic value to fill Nvidia's gaps in different areas. Hyundai Motor is pushing to commercialize a Level 4 autonomous-driving robotaxi, fronted by subsidiary Boston Dynamics' industrial humanoid "Atlas." LG Electronics has concretized integration with the Isaac platform through the home Humanoid "Cloid," equipped with Nvidia's Jetson Thor chipset, and Huang introduced it himself during the GTC keynote, publicly confirming the partnership.
In the case of Doosan Robotics, in April, Madison Huang, Huang's eldest daughter and a senior director leading Nvidia's Robotics business, visited Doosan Tower to discuss cooperation on industrial robots and smart factories at a working level. The industry views this visit as showing that the scope of cooperation between Nvidia and Korean corporations is expanding beyond memory semiconductors to cloud, AI infrastructure, Robotics, and physical AI startups.
◇ Exchanges with academia and startups as well… "Could reshape the domestic AI industry landscape"
Huang is also expected to seek collaboration not only with large companies but with academia and startups. He plans to visit Seoul National University to explore research cooperation on AI and Robotics, and on the 8th will hold a closed-door meeting with domestic AI and robot startups before visiting Naver's second headquarters, 1784, to concretize cooperation on robot control systems and sovereign AI. From high bandwidth memory (HBM) to humanoids, Autonomous Driving, and cloud infrastructure, the meetings span every layer of the physical AI ecosystem.
In the startup sector, AeiROBOT, Ndotlight, and Realworld are scheduled to attend the meeting with Huang. These companies were selected for the "Inception Grand Challenge," in which Nvidia supports startups with high commercialization potential that develop services using its technologies. Diden Robotics, a physical AI startup founded by researchers from the KAIST Department of Mechanical Engineering's Humanoid Robot Research Center, is reportedly under Nvidia's investment review. The scope of cooperation is expanding from large corporation–centered hardware partnerships to investment in the startup ecosystem.
Meanwhile, Huang also hinted that GTC could be held in Seoul. The market interprets this as setting Korea not as a one-off delivery destination but as a key base in the era of physical AI. "As CEO Jensen Huang underscored the importance of Robotics and included Korea in the same context, it means investment reviews in that field are proceeding in parallel," an industry official said, adding, "Depending on the outcome of the visit, the order landscape in the domestic robot and AI industries could change."