[Edaily Reporters Song Jae-min and Park Min-woong] It has been revealed that SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang have met eight times over the past seven months since October of last year. As the relationship between the two companies—which began with cooperation on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) supply—has recently expanded to encompass the entire AI infrastructure, including AI factories, cloud services, and data centers, observers note that the two are effectively establishing themselves as key partners in building the global AI ecosystem.

According to business circles on the 8th, Chairman Choi and CEO Huang have met a total of eight times, based on publicly confirmed schedules alone, since the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit held in Gyeongju last October. The number of their meetings increased by one more this morning when the two companies announced a long-term technology partnership centered on the joint development of next-generation memory and the construction of AI factories at the SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

In particular, the frequency of their meetings has increased significantly this year. They held a so-called “chicken and beer meeting” in California last February and also met at “GTC 2026” in San Jose, California, in March. Since the start of this month, they have been traveling back and forth between Taiwan and South Korea, and it is safe to say they have been together virtually the entire week.

Following a dinner at the “GTC Taipei 2026” event in Taiwan on the 1st and a meeting at “Computex 2026” on the 2nd, their meetings continued after CEO Huang’s visit to South Korea: a “samso (pork belly and soju) gathering” in Hongdae on the 5th, a chicken and beer dinner that same night, a meeting at the Samsung branch of Ganbu Chicken in Gangnam on the 7th, and a joint press briefing on the 8th. They met five times in just the past week.

Business circles interpret these moves as signifying more than just a simple client-supplier relationship. This is because their interests are intertwined: NVIDIA needs a stable supply of HBM, which is key to its AI semiconductor competitiveness, while SK Hynix needs to further strengthen its cooperation with NVIDIA, its largest client.

Oh Il-seon, director of the CXO Research Institute, said, “From NVIDIA’s perspective, securing future supply volumes is crucial, and SK Hynix also needs to solidify its relationship with this key customer.” He added, “Even if there are no issues now, there is an aspect of building a relationship of trust in preparation for potential future supply shortages or market volatility.”

Some analysts suggest that the recent partnership has evolved beyond supply chain management to a relationship focused on building an AI ecosystem. The collaboration plan announced that day also expanded beyond HBM supply to encompass the entire AI infrastructure. SK Hynix will collaborate on the joint development of memory for NVIDIA’s next-generation platforms, while SK Telecom will pursue an AI factory business utilizing NVIDIA technology. This is the context behind CEO Huang’s remark that “SK Hynix has been our largest memory partner in the past and will remain our largest partner in the future.”

Director Oh said, “The AI industry is not about a single company succeeding on its own; ultimately, it is a competition of ecosystems.” He added, “While NVIDIA plays a central role, it must collaborate with various companies to grow the market. The frequent meetings between Chairman Choi Tae-won and CEO Jensen Huang can be seen as a symbolic scene in the process of building such an ecosystem.”