[Edaily Reporter Shin Young-bin] On the 8th, the final day of NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s visit to South Korea, a tense atmosphere prevailed at the Shilla Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, as reporters gathered even before the event began.

Interest at the scene appears to be growing, as this meeting—where CEO Huang will meet with representatives from #Samsung Electronics and robotics and AI startups—marks the final stop of his visit following meetings with the heads of major domestic conglomerates and the gaming industry.

That afternoon, more than 30 reporters arrived early at the lobby of the Shilla Hotel in Seoul to cover CEO Huang’s visit. Reporters seeking to track the movements of key figures took positions throughout the lobby, and a bustling atmosphere persisted as cameras from broadcast and photojournalists lined up in front of the Yeongbin Hall, the venue for the event.

CEO Huang is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting at the Shilla Hotel today with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jeon Young-hyun and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon. It is speculated that discussions will cover NVIDIA’s next-generation AI platform, Samsung Electronics’ high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supply strategy, and plans for AI memory collaboration.

During his meeting with CEO Huang, Deputy Prime Minister Bae is scheduled to discuss cooperation plans aimed at expanding domestic AI computing infrastructure and fostering the growth of the physical AI ecosystem. With Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong away on an overseas business trip, attention is also focused on whether any announcements regarding further cooperation between NVIDIA and Samsung Electronics will be made.

CEO Huang is scheduled to attend NVIDIA’s Korea AI Ecosystem Reception at the same venue later in the day, which will be attended by representatives of domestic robotics and AI startups as well as academic researchers. The fact that his final schedule in Korea concludes with a meeting with the Korean AI and robotics ecosystem is interpreted as a sign of how highly NVIDIA values Korea as a hub for collaboration in physical AI and industrial AI.

This visit is drawing attention as a turning point where the scope of cooperation between NVIDIA and the Korean government and industry expands beyond AI semiconductors and data centers to include physical AI and robotics. During his visit, CEO Huang also held a series of meetings with the heads of major Korean conglomerates, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin.

The robotics and AI industries are also paying close attention to the event. It is understood that domestic robotics and AI startups—including Robotis, Airobot, Cimes Robotics, Diden Robotics, RealWorld, Upstage, Nota, Vessel AI, and N.dotlight—as well as academic researchers from Seoul National University and KAIST will attend the event.

These companies possess the technologies necessary for implementing physical AI, including humanoids, robot foundation models, 3D simulation, AI lightweighting, and AI infrastructure.

Particularly as NVIDIA is expanding its scope beyond being a graphics processing unit (GPU) supplier to become a physical AI platform company encompassing robot development, training, simulation, and deployment environments, attention is focused on what message CEO Hwang will deliver to the domestic startup ecosystem on this day.