SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has now met Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang three times in 2026, a pace of engagement that underscores both the strategic importance of their companies’ partnership and South Korea’s increasingly central role in the global artificial-intelligence supply chain.
The latest meeting took place this week in Taiwan on the sidelines of GTC Taipei 2026, where Huang unveiled Nvidia’s latest AI roadmap. While executive meetings are common in the technology industry, repeated meetings between the heads of Nvidia and SK Group have become increasingly noteworthy as competition for AI infrastructure intensifies worldwide.
The frequency of the discussions reflects a shift occurring across the technology sector. As artificial intelligence moves from experimentation to large-scale deployment, access to advanced semiconductor components has become as strategically important as software innovation itself.
That dynamic has elevated SK Group—and particularly SK hynix—into one of Nvidia’s most important partners.
SK hynix has emerged as the leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a specialized semiconductor that enables AI processors to handle enormous volumes of data at high speeds. The technology has become a critical component inside Nvidia’s AI accelerators, which power many of the world’s most advanced data centers and AI systems.
For Chey, the repeated meetings with Huang highlight how dramatically SK Group’s position has evolved during the AI boom.
For years, South Korea’s semiconductor industry was viewed primarily as a manufacturing powerhouse supplying memory chips to global electronics companies. Today, the country occupies a much more strategic position. The success of generative AI has transformed advanced memory from a commodity product into a vital technology underpinning the next generation of computing infrastructure.
That transformation has placed SK hynix at the center of one of the most important supply relationships in the global technology industry.
Speaking at Nvidia Korea Partner Night in Taipei, Huang emphasized the complexity of HBM technology and the close cooperation between the two companies. He described advanced memory as a product requiring exceptional levels of performance, reliability, quality and manufacturing expertise, while highlighting the long-standing partnership between Nvidia and SK hynix.
Huang also praised SK hynix’s recent growth and market success, signaling Nvidia’s recognition of the increasingly important role South Korean companies play in supporting global AI expansion.
According to SK hynix President Kwak Noh-jung, discussions among Huang, Chey and company executives focused on the future direction of artificial intelligence, long-term industry opportunities and potential areas for deeper collaboration.
The significance of the meetings extends beyond the relationship between two companies.
As major technology firms commit hundreds of billions of dollars to AI infrastructure, supply-chain partnerships are becoming a critical source of competitive advantage. Maintaining access to advanced memory chips has become a strategic necessity for Nvidia, while securing a leading role in the AI ecosystem has become an opportunity for South Korea to strengthen its influence in global technology markets.
Chey’s third meeting with Huang this year serves as a reminder of how closely those interests have become aligned.
The AI race is often portrayed as a contest among software developers and chip designers. Increasingly, however, it is also a story about the companies supplying the technologies that make those systems possible.
And in that story, South Korea—and SK Group in particular—is playing an increasingly prominent role.
