CEO Jensen Huang, who returned to Korea for the first time in seven months following his attendance at last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Gyeongju, and the group leaders who visited the restaurant to discuss AI cooperation with him drew such a large crowd that the area in front of the restaurant was packed to capacity with no room to stand, about an hour before the scheduled meeting time of 7 p.m.
At a glance, the crowd appeared to number over 500 people. The area near Hongik University Station is already a hub of cultural consumption popular with young people and familiar to foreign tourists, making it a naturally crowded spot. The area was particularly bustling that day as citizens and tourists gathered to enjoy “Friday Night.”
On top of that, reporters lined up with their cameras on the other side of the glass windows at the location where the meeting was expected to take place.
As the media frenzy intensified and safety concerns arose due to the large crowd, the Seoul Mapo Police Station, which has jurisdiction over the area, set up a security cordon outside the restaurant.
The barbecue restaurant where the meeting was scheduled is a franchise equipped with “Naver Pay Connect,” operated by Naver Financial, a financial subsidiary of Naver, and it was reported that Chairman Lee would make the payment after the meal.
This “big brother meeting” appears to be focused more on expanding the physical AI, robotics, and cloud ecosystems. Naver has significant overlap with NVIDIA in terms of sovereign AI and cloud infrastructure. SK is a key player in the HBM supply chain and a comprehensive partner covering AI data centers and energy infrastructure, while LG is a partner with whom cooperation can be expanded in home appliances and robotics.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang is also scheduled to visit the LG Group headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, the Hyundai Motor Group headquarters in Yangjae-dong, and Naver’s second headquarters, 1784, on the 8th. In particular, the Naver 1784 building is a space where robotics, cloud, and digital twin technologies have been physically implemented, and it is expected to serve as an opportunity to witness firsthand the “future of physical AI” envisioned by NVIDIA.
