[Edaily Reporter SOYEON KIM ] SamsungElectronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong is expected to attend the Sun Valley Conference, widely regarded as a social gathering for global business leaders.

According to foreign media and business circles on the 5th, the Sun Valley Conference will be held from the 7th to the 11th (local time) at the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho, U.S. This private event, organized annually in July since 1983 by the U.S. investment bank Allen & Company, brings together global media and IT industry heavyweights and is often referred to as the “billionaires’ summer camp.”

Chairman Lee drew significant attention when he attended last year’s Sun Valley Conference. This marked his full-fledged return to the global business stage after nine years, following his release from the legal risks that had long held him back

In particular, industry observers believe that Chairman Lee’s visit to Sun Valley last year served as a springboard for securing major global tech clients. Building on the networking opportunities he had there, SamsungElectronics went on to secure a series of artificial intelligence (AI)-related contracts from major tech companies such as Tesla and Apple.

Last year’s event was attended by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta; Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google; Tim Cook, CEO of Apple; and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. It is reported that this year’s event will also be attended by these figures, as well as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and John Turners, Senior Vice President and Apple’s designated next CEO.

There is speculation that Chairman Lee may attend the event for the second consecutive year. Last year, he reportedly attended with Lee Won-jin, head of SamsungElectronics’ Visual Display (VD) Business Division (then head of Global Marketing), to explore ways to strengthen AI business cooperation and identify new business opportunities.

Chairman Lee attended this event every year from 2002 to 2016, during his tenure as a Senior Vice President at SamsungElectronics, but was unable to attend the Sun Valley Conference for a while due to legal risks. In 2017, Chairman Lee stated in court, “Sun Valley is the busiest business trip of the year and the one I pay the most attention to.”

The business community is also paying close attention to this trip. In the past, Chairman Lee has secured major contracts by personally engaging in negotiations and communication, leveraging the network he built with CEOs of global Big Tech companies. It is speculated that he will once again meet with executives from global Big Tech firms to discuss collaboration strategies centered on AI semiconductors.

In particular, SamsungElectronics’ global market standing and role have grown significantly in the AI era. The company is expected to actively highlight its turnkey supply capabilities, which encompass HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), foundry services, and advanced packaging. Some observers also suggest that this event will serve as an important platform to gain insight into SamsungElectronics’ global AI strategy and future business direction through private networking sessions.