Lee meets OpenAI and Nvidia CEOs, calls for greater roles in AI projects

San Francisco: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met with the heads of four global tech giants, including Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, and called for their greater participation in South Korea’s artificial intelligence (AI) investment plans.

The meetings took place on the first day of Lee’s two-day trip to San Francisco aimed at promoting AI investment and cooperation between global tech giants and South Korea, reports Yonhap news agency.

Lee also met separately with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic PBC CEO Dario Amodei and Broadcom Inc. CEO Hock Tan.

During his meeting with Huang, the South Korean president praised him as being at the forefront of a “fundamental shift” taking place around the world and introduced South Korea’s recently announced large-scale investment plans to build a semiconductor production cluster and AI data centers.

The plans aim to provide further momentum after growing global demand for semiconductors amid the AI boom has helped push South Korean into becoming one of the world’s major chip supply hubs.

Lee expressed hope that the Nvidia CEO will play a greater role in South Korea’s investment drive, saying the projects will help transform the country into an AI-driven society.

Huang underscored what he called South Koreans’ enthusiasm for AI, stressing that the country has entered a golden era under Lee’s leadership.

The president responded by highlighting his pledge to make South Korea a global leader in applying AI to the real world.

In a separate meeting with Altman, the president again stressed his government’s push to transform the country’s industrial structure around AI, adding that he enjoys using OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

He also asked Altman to play a greater role in South Korea’s investment plans, while Altman described South Korea as one of the world’s most important countries in AI development.

Meeting Amodei, Lee asked for his special attention to South Korea’s AI sector.

The president said, “As South Korea plans to significantly expand investment in the AI sector, I hope for Anthropic’s special attention, investment and contributions.”

Amodei thanked Lee, noting the South Korean government’s priority on AI, and said he expects a wide range of cooperation with South Korea.

He said Anthropic places the highest priority on cooperation with other companies and expressed hope for cooperation with South Korea in various areas, including data centres.

Amodei said his company and South Korea’s science ministry will sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in AI security and the cyber industry.

During a separate meeting with the Broadcom CEO, the South Korean president again called for the company’s help and support for South Korea’s push to establish an AI ecosystem.

IANS