Jensen Huang, Nvidia chief executive officer (CEO), handed out "HBM chips" to about 1,000 people who gathered to see him while he was having a "samgyeopsal gathering" on the evening of the 5th with Korea's top business leaders. He said, "We are growing together with Hyundai Motor, LG, SK hynix, Samsung, and Naver."
On the afternoon of the day, Huang met SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin at a barbecue restaurant near Hongik University in Mapo District, Seoul. The tycoons arrived first and were waiting, and Huang arrived at about 7:10 p.m., toasted with them, ate meat, and talked.
During the meal, Huang stepped outside the restaurant with Chairman Chey, Chairman Koo, and Chairman Lee. They handed out brown boxes from a white box. Inside were twisted doughnuts.
Chairman Chey separately brought out a box and handed out the "HBM Chips" snack inside. The snack was jointly developed by convenience store 7-Eleven and SK hynix, and is "Honey Banana Mat (HBM)." It is a corn chip product coated with honey banana–flavored chocolate.
Huang opened the HBM Chips that Chey handed him, took a bite, and nodded as if it tasted good. As he approached the citizens chanting "Jensen Huang," they smiled and cheered.
Huang then took the microphone and greeted the crowd. Huang said, "Korea is doing really well. Like a PC bang, bang!, business is coming back. Korea's business partners are very important to me." He added, "My friends had a really good year. But this is just the beginning."
Huang said, "Nvidia unveiled four new products this week." He said, "The next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer Vera Rubin uses a lot of HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) and LPDDR (low-power DRAM)," and "the new CPU Vera also uses a lot of memory, including LPDDR5."
He also said, "RTX Spark, a new form of PC platform appearing for the first time in 40 years, will open a completely new era," adding, "RTX Spark also needs a lot of memory, including LPDDR5."
Huang said, "Nvidia unveiled new processors for Autonomous Driving cars and Robotics," adding, "We are making major collaborations with Hyundai Motor in Robotics." He continued, "All my friends, LG, SK hynix, Samsung, Naver, we are all booming," and said, "I came here to celebrate our great partnerships."
He said, "I'm happy that business is doing well, and I'm happy that the stock price is staying high. I'm also very happy that Korea's economy is running well."
Huang said, "I also came to prepare for next year," adding, "If there was one product this year, there are four new products next year. Please get ready for a very exciting new year."
He also mentioned food and culture. Huang said, "I wanted to enjoy Korea's culture as well. I want to eat barbecue, eat snacks, eat the world's best fried chicken, enjoy K-pop, and watch K-dramas," adding, "K-dramas always make me happy."
In particular about K-dramas, Huang said, "They're usually family stories. And there is always someone who is sick, and there are many tears."
Nvidia on the day began the hiring process to establish an AI technology center in Korea. Huang said, "We are expanding AI research and engineering and Robotics research in Korea, and we are hiring talent with several partners," adding, "If you know AI researchers or engineers, tell them to apply to Nvidia."