[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyun-ah ] Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon shared an anecdote from a dinner at the Global AI Summit in San Francisco, USA, and announced AI cooperation achievements totaling $950 billion (approximately 1,375 trillion won).

Deputy Prime Minister Bae recently posted an article titled “The Most Valuable Dinner and a 1,375 Trillion Won Pledge” on his Facebook page, sharing scenes from the dinner with CEOs of global AI companies held after the San Francisco AI Summit.

The dinner took place at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the San Francisco waterfront in a relaxed atmosphere, featuring fish and chips, mini-burgers, and bottled beer.

The event was attended by key figures representing the Korean and global AI industries, including President Lee Jae-myung, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong SamsungElectronics(005930), SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won, HyundaiMotor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, Naver (NAVER(035420)) Board Chairman Lee Hae-jin, and Rani Borkar, President of Microsoft Azure Hardware.

Deputy Prime Minister Bae recounted, “Since the Ministry of Science and ICT organized the event, I said, ‘I’ll pay for today’s meal,’ to which CEO Jensen Huang jokingly replied, ‘Then can I order one more beer? Why don’t you just pay for everyone in the restaurant?’”

He continued, “When I replied that it would be difficult since I’m a government official, everyone burst out laughing,” adding, “The conversation turned to my past as a researcher at LG Corp., leading to a series of lighthearted jokes,” as he described the atmosphere at the time.

President Lee Jae-myung’s toast at the dinner that evening also drew a positive response from the attendees. President Lee said, “In Korea, we call the people we eat with ‘sikgu’ (family),” and suggested, “Whenever I say ‘we,’ please shout ‘sikgu!’” The attendees responded by chanting “sikgu!” in unison.

Vice Premier Bae assessed that this dinner went beyond a simple social gathering and served as an occasion to confirm that South Korea has established itself as a key player in the global AI supply chain.

He announced that, through this summit, the total scale of cooperation between domestic companies and global Big Tech firms in the AI semiconductor and AI industries reached $950 billion (approximately 1,375 trillion won). This includes a long-term supply partnership between SK and NVIDIA, a large-scale foundry partnership between SamsungElectronics and Broadcom, and HyundaiMotor’s project to build autonomous driving and robotics platforms.

SK Group is pursuing a long-term AI semiconductor supply and AI data center partnership with NVIDIA worth approximately $750 billion (about 1,085 trillion won), while SamsungElectronics is embarking on an advanced foundry partnership with Broadcom worth approximately $200 billion (about 290 trillion won). HyundaiMotor Group is expanding its collaboration with NVIDIA to build AI platforms for autonomous driving and humanoid robots, while Naver has agreed to strengthen its partnership with NVIDIA in the areas of sovereign AI and AI infrastructure through a $1 billion (1.4631 trillion won) deal. Hanwha is pursuing expanded global partnerships in the fields of AI data centers and energy infrastructure.

Deputy Prime Minister Bae stated, “I truly felt that South Korea’s status has shifted from a country that sells memory chips to one that leads the AI ecosystem.”

It was also reported that CEO Jensen Huang remarked, “Now is South Korea’s true golden age,” and when jokes were exchanged about the stock market correction, he encouraged attendees by replying, “It will be recovered.”

Deputy Prime Minister Bae shared his reflections, saying, “I sat at the same table with the CEOs of the world’s top AI companies to discuss the future of physical AI and jointly drew up a blueprint for cooperation worth 1,375 trillion won,” adding, “Although I couldn’t pay for everyone’s meal at the restaurant, it was the day I paid for the most valuable dinner in the history of South Korea’s AI.”